BERKELEY 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 


Edward  C.M.Tower 


Ex  Libris 


PRINCIPLES 

OF 
ANGLICANISM 


PRINCIPLES 

OF 

ANGLICANISM 


BY 

FREDERICK  JOSEPH  KINSMAN, 

M.A.(Oxon.),  D.D.(BerL) 

BISHOP  OF  DELAWARE 


LONGMANS,   GREEN,  AND   CO. 

FOURTH  AVENUE  &  30TH  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

LONDON,  BOMBAY  AND  CALCUTTA 

1910 


LOAN  STACK 

COPYRIGHT,  1910,  BY 
LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &  CO. 

Published,  December,  1910 


fa 


To 
PHILIP  MERCER  RHINELANDER 


PREFACE 

THE  six  papers  contained  in  this  volume  are  suffi- 
ciently connected  in  thought  and  treatment  to  allow 
of  publication  under  one  title,  although  they  were 
written  in  the  first  instance  for  different  sets  of  peo- 
ple and  bear  plain  traces  of  independent  prepara- 
tion. In  spite  of  repetitions  and  other  incongruities, 
they  are  published  in  substantially  their  original 
form. 

The  first  three  lectures  on  Principles  of  Anglican- 
ism were  delivered  on  the  foundation  of  the  Reinicker 
Lectureship  in  the  Virginia  Theological  Seminary, 
Alexandria,  in  November  1909;  the  fourth,  on  The 
Principle  of  Orders,  was  read  before  the  Brooklyn 
Clerical  League  in  March  1910;  the  fifth,  on  The 
Achievements  and  Failures  of  Protestantism,  was 
written  for  the  St.  Mary's  Conference,  Raleigh, 
N.  C.,  in  June  1910;  the  sixth,  on  Church  Unity,  is 
a  sermon  preached  at  St.  John's  Church,  Wilming- 
ton, and  later  at  Grace  Church,  Avondale,  Cincinnati, 
in  October  1910.  The  first  five  papers  were  read  at 
the  St.  Mary's  Conference  in  Raleigh,  and  later  at 
a  Conference  for  Church-workers  held  at  the  Epis- 
copal Theological  School,  Cambridge,  in  July  1910. 
The  publication  was  asked  for  by  those  attending 
the  two  conferences;  but  this  would  not  have  been 
accomplished,  had  it  not  been  for  the  advice  and 

vii 


viii  Preface 

assistance  of  the  Rev.  Professor  Philip  Mercer 
Rhinelander  of  the  Episcopal  Theological  School, 
Cambridge. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  acknowledge  my  supreme  obli- 
gations to  Professor  Rhinelander  for  encouragement 
in  this  as  in  every  undertaking  of  my  life;  as  well  as 
gratitude  to  the  Bishop  of  Vermont  and  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Houghton  of  Cambridge  for  help  in  arranging 
for  the  publication;  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  T. 
Manning,  rector  of  Trinity  Parish,  New  York,  for 
helpful  criticism  of  one  of  the  papers;  and  to  my 
sister  for  constant  assistance  in  preparing  manu- 
script for  the  press. 

F.  J.  K. 
Bishopstead, 
WILMINGTON,  DELAWARE, 
St.  Simon  and  St.  Jude's  Day,  1910. 


CONTENTS 

PRINCIPLES  or  ANGLICANISM 

I.  THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION      ...  1 

II.  ANGLICAN  CONSERVATISM           ...  39 

III.  ANGLICAN   PROGRESSIVENESS      ...  67 

IV.The  Principle  of  Orders       ....  91 
V.The  Achievements  and  Failures   of  Prot- 
estantism       127 

VI.The  Unity  of  the  Church    .  .167 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ANGLICANISM 

I.     The  English  Reformation. 
II.     Anglican  Conservatism. 
III.     Anglican   Progressiveness. 


THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION 

IT  is  the  purpose  of  these  lectures  to  comment 
upon  the  history  of  the  Reformation  in  England  in 
order  to  indicate  the  chief  principles  of  belief  and 
action,  which  have  determined  the  policy  of  that 
portion  of  the  Christian  world  which  is  in  com- 
munion with  the  Church  of  England.  The  title, 
Principles  of  Anglicanism,  is  not  wholly  satisfactory. 
Anglicanism  suggests  what  is  limited  and  local, 
whereas  the  principles  discussed  are  as  broad  as 
Christianity  itself,  and  further  what  is  exclusively 
English,  whereas  our  especial  concern  is  with  what 
is  American.  But  there  seems  to  be  no  more  avail- 
able term  to  indicate  that  form  of  Christianity  ex- 
isting in  what  is  called  the  Anglican  Communion, 
wherein  the  same  principles  are  given  expression  in 
slightly  varying  ways  in  the  English,  the  British 
Colonial,  and  the  American  Churches,  of  which  the 
Anglican  Communion  is  composed.  The  history  and 
life  of  all  these  is  devoid  of  significance,  if  they  be 
not  regarded  as  stages  in  the  evolution  of  a  broader 
and  deeper  Christianity  than  they  have  as  yet  ex- 
hibited. The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  contains  a 
definite  ideal  of  Christianity,  which  embodies  prin- 
ciples susceptible  of  wider  application  than  was  given 
them  at  the  time,  and  in  the  place,  of  their 
emergence,  or  than  is  now  given  them  in  their  pres- 


2  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

ent  sphere  of  operation.  This  ideal  was  formed  in 
a  time  of  testing  and  experiment.  Certain  features 
of  its  history  belong  to  the  age  of  their  occurrence 
and  the  place  of  their  origin ;  yet  the  principles  ex- 
pressed may  be  distinguished  from  the  accidents  of 
their  historical  expression,  and  may  be  shown  to  have 
greater  possible  power  for  the  future  than  they 
have  had  actual  power  in  the  past.  These  principles 
are  professed  by  the  American  Episcopal  Church,  in 
which  they  are  wholly  independent  of  local  and  his- 
torical accidents,  which  condition  their  application 
in  England;  in  which,  also,  they  must  stand  or  fall 
according  to  intrinsic  value,  since  they  have  no  acci- 
dental advantages  of  position  to  give  prestige  or 
special  influence.1 

Any  consideration  of  Church  principles  ought  to 
make  us  both  resolute  and  humble.  It  ought  to 
stimulate  loyalty  and  determination  to  put  princi- 
ples into  fuller  practice;  and  it  ought  to  leave  us 
with  so  sincere  a  sense  of  shortcoming  as  to  make 

1  It  is  not  conclusive  for  us  to  be  able  to  say  of  this  doctrine  or 
of  that  practice  that  it  is  English.  Nor,  for  that  matter,  is  it 
conclusive  for  us  to  be  able  to  say  that  it  is  American,  although 
that  is  a  consideration  which  for  us  has  greater  weight.  There 
are  many  things  which  our  brethren  in  England  accept  because 
they  are  English,  believing  apparently  more  in  the  Church  of 
England  because  she  is  of  England  than  because  she  is  the 
Church  ;  which  we,  if  we  accept  them  at  all,  accept  because  they 
satisfy  the  requirements  of  some  different  standard.  Many 
Americans  are  of  English  descent,  with  Anglo-Saxon  or  at  least 
Teutonic,  presuppositions  and  tastes.  But  the  majority  of 
Americans  are  of  different,  or  of  mixed,  racial  antecedents  ;  and 
the  American  race  of  the  future  will  not  be  either  purely,  or  even 
predominately,  English  or  even  Teutonic.  Even  if  the  English 


The  English  Reformation  3 

it  impossible  ever  to  maintain  those  principles  in 
any  other  spirit  than  that  of  charity.  The  duty 
of  tolerance  does  not  imply  the  absence  of  strong 
convictions;  on  the  contrary,  the  truest  and  stron- 
gest tolerance  springs  out  of  strong  convictions. 
There  is  an  indifference  due  to  both  moral  and  men- 
tal flabbiness  which  calls  itself  tolerance  and  charity ; 
but  it  has  nothing  in  common  with  those  virtues. 
Charity  and  tolerance  can  say  what  they  believe,  and 
why  they  believe  it;  and  out  of  their  devotion  to 
truth,  as  they  apprehend  it,  be  able  to  understand 
the  equal  devotion  to  truth  in  those  who  apprehend 
it  differently.  The  study  of  history  helps  us  to  see 
that  the  differences  in  belief  and  practice  between 
good  Christians  represent  not  so  much  difference  in 
motive  or  character  as  difference  in  the  many  sides 
of  the  one  truth  of  which  each  and  all  have  some  par- 
tial apprehension.  We  may  differ  in  opinion  without 
breach  of  charity,  when  we  appreciate  that  differ- 
ence in  apprehension  means  that  each  has  something 
special  to  give  and  something  special  to  gain,  and 

language,  with  all  its  wealth  of  historic  and  literary  association, 
continue  to  be  the  language  of  Americans,  it  does  not  follow  that 
England  will  be  a  mother-country,  in  the  sense  that  we  shall 
assume  that  anything  attested  by  English  experience  will,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  be  equally  useful  in  America.  Our  future  rela- 
tions with  England  are  not  likely  to  differ  essentially  from  our 
relations  with  any  other  European  country.  It  follows,  therefore, 
that,  if  we  continue  to  believe  that  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  has  any  special  mission  for  the  building  up  of  Christianity 
in  America,  we  shall  accept  it,  not  merely  because  it  is  an  offshoot 
of  the  national  Church  of  England,  but  because,  for  wholly  in- 
dependent reasons,  we  believe  that  it  truly  presents  the  Christian 
religion. 


4  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

that  out  of  the  difference  may  come  fuller  appre- 
hension of  the  whole  content  of  truth  tending  to 
fuller  mutual  edification. 

If  we  are  to  hold  our  own,  and  make  our  way,  in 
the  religious  world  of  the  future,  it  is  necessary  for 
us  to  translate  our  theology  into  intelligible  terms 
of  life,  and  our  apologetic  into  terms  of  winning 
charity.  There  is  at  this  time  in  the  Church  and 
outside  it  a  wholesome  impatience  with  any  tone  of 
anger  or  arrogance  in  the  discussion  of  religious 
questions.  It  makes  no  difference  how  obvious  the 
truth,  nor  how  close  to  the  sympathies  of  the  hearer ; 
if  the  truth  be  uttered  with  any  suggestion  of  un- 
kindness,  the  mode  of  utterance  rouses  prejudice 
against  the  truth  itself.  The  day  of  polemics  is 
past.  That  is,  the  polemical  tone  injures  only  him 
who  adopts  it,  and  the  cause  in  behalf  of  which  he 
uses  it.  If  our  apologetic  is  to  have  any  effect,  it 
must  differ  from  the  apologetic  of  the  past  in 
greater  regard  for  the  precept,  "  Speak  the  truth 
in  love."  Much  truth  has  been  spoken  in  anger  or 
in  scorn;  but  that  method  must  give  way  to  a  bet- 
ter. In  our  arguments  with  those  who  differ,  our 
most  effective  method  of  attack  is  not  to  score  their 
faults  but  to  recognise  their  virtues. 

It  is  the  object  of  these  papers,  first,  to  sketch  the 
whole  history  of  the  English  Reformation  for  the 
purpose  of  indicating  those  salient  features  which 
give  distinctive  character  to  Anglican  Christianity; 
second,  to  consider  Anglicanism  on  the  side  of  its 
conservatism;  and,  third,  on  the  side  of  its  pro- 
gressiveness. 


The  English  Reformation  5 

It  would  be  futile  to  attempt  to  sketch  the  his- 
tory of  the  English  Reformation  in  rose-colour.  No 
period  of  history  can  be  sketched  in  rose-colour  with 
any  degree  of  truthfulness.  The  English  Reforma- 
tion constitutes  a  perplexing  and  unedifying  chap- 
ter in  history;  but,  like  many  perplexing  and  un- 
edifying chapters,  it  had  an  intelligible,  and  on  the 
whole  satisfactory,  conclusion.  With  the  tangle  of 
intrigue  and  sordid  politics,  of  which  it  was  largely 
composed,  were  mingled  threads  of  a  different  fibre; 
and  the  religious  pattern  ultimately  woven  on  an 
unpromising  woof  reproduced  something  not  wholly 
unlike  that  of  the  Church  of  the  first  days.  On  the 
surface  of  the  history  at  the  outset,  there  seemed 
nothing  but  a  struggle  between  King  Henry  VIII 
and  Pope  Clement  VII.  The  change  in  the  Church 
seemed  little  more  than  the  abolition  of  Papal  Su- 
premacy to  make  way  for  Royal  Supremacy,  more 
objectionable  still.  But  below  the  surface  lay  some- 
thing deeper  and  more  important,  which  ultimately 
came  plainly  into  view,  and  furnished  a  religious  and 
ecclesiastical  pattern  widely  copied  as  the  years 
rolled  by. 

There  have  been  many  perplexing  and  unedifying 
chapters  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  the  true  char- 
acter of  which  appears  not  in  the  incidents  of  their 
occurrence,  but  in  their  ultimate  results.  The  history 
of  Martin  Luther  and  the  movement  he  inaugurated 
is  far  from  attractive  in  most  of  its  actual  features. 
Yet  there  is  no  question  that  Luther  was  the  great 
man  of  his  century,  and  that  his  influence  was  on 
the  whole  for  the  benefit  of  the  world.  Similarly,  the 


6  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

history  of  the  Council  of  Trent  is  troubled  and  re- 
pellent; yet  its  result  was  a  strengthening  of  the 
Papal  Church  along  many  lines,  and  the  inaugura- 
tion of  most  of  the  better  developments  in  modern 
Roman  Catholicism.  The  history  of  the  great  coun- 
cils in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  is  a  tissue  of 
turmoils;  yet  those  councils  actually  served  their 
ostensible  purpose  of  defending  the  faith  of  the  Gos- 
pel. Even  the  history  of  the  age  of  the  Apostles 
themselves  is  not  edifying.  The  earliest  Christians 
did  not  always  love  one  another.  The  New  Testa- 
ment itself  discloses  a  state  of  affairs  in  the  first  cen- 
tury as  little  attractive  as  that  which  existed  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  or  as  that  which  exists  in  the 
twentieth.  Yet  some  of  our  greatest  blessings  come 
as  direct  results  of  disagreeable  controversy.  The 
struggles  of  the  first  age  gave  us  the  New  Testa- 
ment; the  squabbles  of  the  conciliar  period,  the 
Creeds;  the  quarrel  between  England  and  the 
Papacy,  the  Prayer  Book.  It  is  the  Prayer  Book 
which  enshrines  the  spirit  of  Anglicanism;  and  An- 
glicanism is  only  justified,  if  its  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  does,  as  it  claims,  conform  closely  in  its  prin- 
ciples and  in  its  injunctions  to  the  pattern  of  primi- 
tive Christianity. 

"  History  makes  men  wise  " :  that  is,  it  gives  that 
practical  wisdom  which  comes  of  accumulated  expe- 
rience. The  study  of  it,  if  properly  pursued,  will 
give  a  devotion  to  truth,  and  a  desire  for  habits  of 
accuracy  of  the  same  sort  which  results  from  the 
study  of  the  natural  sciences;  it  will  give  also  in- 
creased measures  of  patience,  fairness,  and  sympa- 


The  English  Reformation  7 

thy,  without  which  as  presuppositions  the  study  it- 
self is  impossible,  and  without  which  as  results  it 
has  failed  of  its  proper  aim.  The  historical  temper 
is,  in  its  intellectual  aspect,  painstaking  and  truth- 
loving;  in  its  moral  aspect,  long-suffering,  just,  and 
very  human.  Any  investigation  into  the  history  of 
the  Church  will  show  how  the  treasures  of  truth  and 
grace  have  been  committed  to  earthen,  very  earthen, 
vessels ;  but  will  encourage  by  showing  what  use  God 
has  made  of  our  fathers  and  brethren  in  the  past, 
suggesting  thereby  the  use  He  may  make  of  us  in 
present  and  in  future. 


The  name  Reformation  is  vaguely  used  to  define 
that  intellectual  and  social  revolution  in  Western 
Europe  during  the  fifteenth  and  two  following  cen- 
turies, by  which  the  Christian  Church  was  inevitably 
affected,  and  which  marked  the  beginning  of  mod- 
ern Christianity.  To  speak  of  the  Reformation  is 
misleading,  in  so  far  as  the  term  fails  to  distinguish 
between  distinct  and  differing  lines  of  development, 
and  also  in  its  suggestion  that  change  was  always 
for  the  better.  In  most  periods  of  upheaval  and 
readjustment,  the  net  result  is  gain,  and  the  line  of 
direction,  as  appears  in  retrospect,  one  of  prog- 
ress ;  yet  every  process  of  this  sort  is  painful,  and 
it  may  involve  positive  losses.  Every  period  of 
transition  in  the  world's  history  has  been  marked  by 
scars  of  conflict;  and  much  of  the  world's  advance 
is  painful  progress  by  stumbles.  So  in  the  Reforma- 
tion period,  there  was  no  sudden  emergence  from 


8  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

darkness  to  light,  no  abrupt  supersession  of  bad  by 
good  or  of  good  by  better.  There  was,  however,  the 
beginning  of  the  age  in  which  we  live,  in  which  the 
disintegration  of  feudalism  made  way  for  the  spirit 
of  democracy,  and  in  which  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity were  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  modern 
world.  There  was  a  re-formation  of  everything  which 
constituted  the  life  of  mediaeval  Europe,  of  things 
social,  things  political,  and  things  ecclesiastical. 
The  reformation  in  the  Church — which  was  not 
always  reform — was  only  one  aspect  of  a  general 
readjustment. 

The  cause  of  change,  generally  speaking,  was  the 
discovery  that  the  old  system  of  things  had  out- 
grown its  usefulness,  since  conceptions  of  the  world 
and  life  had  broadened  and  deepened;  and  it  had 
become  clear  that  for  the  future  social  laws  and 
intellectual  conceptions,  more  or  less  current  for  a 
thousand  years,  could  no  longer  be  regarded  as  sat- 
isfactory. It  is  impossible  wholly  to  separate  the 
religious  change  from  the  changes  social  and  po- 
litical, or  to  understand  the  religious  movements  in 
all  their  bearings,  without  reference  to  the  general 
context;  yet,  for  purposes  of  comparison,  it  is  pos- 
sible sufficiently  to  detach  the  religious  elements  in 
the  change,  to  relate  them  to  the  religious  history 
of  the  ages  which  preceded,  and  the  age  which 
followed. 

In  all  Western  Europe  there  was  religious  change, 
although  the  change  was  not  everywhere  uniform. 
It  is  more  accurate  to  speak  of  four  Reformations 
than  of  one,  since  from  the  beginning  of  the  period 


The  English  Reformation  9 

the  religious  change  followed  at  least  four  distinct 
lines.  There  was  a  German  Reformation,  a  Swiss 
Reformation,  a  Latin  Reformation,  and  an  English 
Reformation.  No  two  followed  identical  lines;  nor 
were  any  two  in  many  respects  similar.  Yet  all  were 
characteristic  products  of  the  same  age,  and  due  to 
similar  or  identical  influences.  Martin  Luther,  John 
Calvin,  Thomas  Cranmer,  and  Ignatius  Loyola  were 
all  reformers;  yet  no  one  of  them  had  much  tolera- 
tion for  any  of  the  other  three.  It  has  been  left  for 
our  generation  to  discover  how  much  Calvin  and 
Cranmer,  Luther  and  Loyola,  respectively,  had  in 
common;  to  see  that  Calvin's  insistence  on  Christian 
Democracy  was  closely  akin  to  Cranmer's  defence  of 
Royal  Supremacy;  and  that  Luther's  method  of 
teaching  "  Justification  by  faith  only  "  was  closely 
akin  to  the  Jesuit  doctrine  that  "  the  end  justifies 
the  means."  It  is  interesting  to  study  historical 
parallels  in  the  operations  of  the  spirit  of  any  age; 
and  it  is  possible  to  see  how  much  in  common  there 
was  between  the  different  manifestations  of  Reforma- 
tion spirit ;  but  our  special  concern  is  with  its  opera- 
tion in  England,  where  there  was  evolved  a  form  of 
modern  Christianity  adopted  by  ourselves  as  best 
adapted  in  our  judgment  to  perpetuate  the  Chris- 
tianity of  the  first  age  in  our  own  country. 

The  English  Reformation  was  not  an  event,  but 
a  period  of  transition.  During  the  century  and  a 
half  which  elapsed  between  the  accession  of  Henry 
VIII  and  the  accession  of  Charles  II,  the  national 
Church  of  England  underwent  a  series  of  changes 
which  gradually  transformed  her  from  one  of  the 


10  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

family  of  western  churches  obedient  to  the  See  of 
Rome,  having  all  the  characteristic  marks  of  Latin 
Christianity,  into  the  Church  of  England  as  she  is 
to-day.  From  the  beginning  of  the  period  to  the 
end,  the  history  is  that  of  a  society  rather  than,  as 
in  the  contemporary  reform  movements  in  Germany 
and  Switzerland,  the  history  of  great  leaders  gradu- 
ally gaining  adherents.  Only  by  degrees  does  this 
society  work  out  its  relation  to  other  forms  of  or- 
ganised Christianity;  and  only  by  degrees  also  does 
it  become  clearly  conscious  of  those  principles  which 
from  the  first  had  determined  its  instinctive  action. 
Life  invariably  precedes  reflection,  and  experience  of 
living,  theories  concerning  it.  There  is  nothing  ab- 
normal in  the  fact  that  the  Church  of  England 
should  have  been  advancing  some  time  by  a  series 
of  painful  experiments  before  she  produced  the  first 
of  those  theologians  who  interpreted  to  her  the  mean- 
ing of  her  own  life. 

In  this  period  of  transition,  1509-1660,  there  are 
to  be  distinguished  two  main  stages,  which  indicate 
clearly  the  typical  line  of  Anglican  development: 
( 1 )  the  struggle  with  the  Church  of  Rome,  by  which 
it  became  clear  that  the  English  Church  had  defi- 
nitely abandoned  much  that  was  characteristic  of 
mediaeval  institutions;  and  (2)  the  struggle  with  the 
system  of  Geneva,  by  which  it  became  clear  that  she 
refused  to  adopt  a  radically  revolutionary  pro- 
gramme. Points  of  contact  and  of  sympathy  Eng- 
land had  with  both  Rome  and  Geneva;  but  she  re- 
fused to  accept  the  domination  of  either.  Yet,  while 
repudiating  what  she  held  to  be  errors  on  both  sides, 


The  English  Reformation  11 

she  endeavoured  to  reconcile  fundamental  concep- 
tions of  both.  It  is  possible  so  to  define  the  Anglican 
position  of  via  media  as  to  make  it  seem  a  timid 
avoidance  of  error,  standing  for  nothing  definite  and 
positive,  a  shrinking  from  possible  danger  on  the 
right  and  on  the  left,  which  leaves  little  solid  ground 
to  stand  on.  It  is  better  understood  as  a  deliberate 
occupancy  of  a  central  position,  in  itself  safe  and 
stable,  and  offering  peculiar  advantages  of  recon- 
ciling and  combining  the  positive  principles  of  those 
who  flank  its  position  on  both  sides.  The  charac- 
teristic answer  of  Anglican  compromise  when  con- 
fronted by  a  question  of  dilemma,  "  Which  will  you 
choose,  this  side  or  that  side?"  is,  "  Both!  "  There 
would  be  little  sense  or  credit  in  a  Church's  seeking 
to  justify  itself  by  saying,  "  I  am  not  Rome;  I  am 
not  Geneva;  I  am  not  associated  with  the  peculiari- 
ties of  those  on  this  side  of  me,  nor  with  the  errors 
of  those  others  on  that,"  unless  it  can  go  on  to  say 
positively  what  it  is.  There  is  reason  for  confidence 
in  a  Church,  if  it  can  say  with  truth,  "  While  identi- 
fied with  no  one-sided  position,  with  extremes  repre- 
sented by  those  on  my  right  and  on  my  left,  I  claim 
share  in  the  fundamental  truths,  which  account  for 
the  power  of  each,  and  strive  to  hold  both  sides  of 
the  truth  in  balance."  The  clue  to  the  meaning  of 
Anglicanism  is  to  be  found  in  the  theory  not  that 
it  avoids  twofold  error,  but  that  it  seeks  combina- 
tion of  twofold  truth. 

1.  It  is  possible  to  distinguish  at  least  three  causes 
which  contributed  to  the  religious  changes  in  Eng- 
land during  the  reigns  of  the  Tudors  and  the  Stuarts. 


12  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

First  and  most  important  was  the  enlarged  concep- 
tion of  the  world  and  life,  which  necessitated  the 
abandonment  of  formula?  and  institutions,  which, 
however  useful  in  the  past,  had  ceased  to  be  ade- 
quate. The  feudal  and  scholastic  age  had  come  to 
an  end,  and'  a  new  era  demanded  something  for  it- 
self. In  the  English  Church  this  spirit  of  youth- 
fulness  is  represented  by  the  men  of  the  New  Learn- 
ing— Erasmus,  John  Colet,  Sir  Thomas  More. 
These  men  would  have  tested  all  doctrines  and  in- 
stitutions of  the  Church  by  measurement  with  New 
Testament  standards;  and,  as  representing  a  new 
Christian  age,  strove  for  religious  satisfaction  by  re- 
version to  the  oldest  age  of  all.  The  new  was  desir- 
ous of  superseding  the  old  by  something  that  was 
older  still.  In  England  as  elsewhere  in  Europe  arose 
a  generation  of  men  keen  for  the  restoration  of  the 
Church  to  the  principles  of  the  earliest  and  purest 
days.  Years  before  the  King  of  England  had  any 
personal  quarrel  with  the  Pope,  a  school  of  Church- 
men, favoured  by  those  in  authority,  had  been 
trained,  who  were  striving  to  revive  the  fresh  spirit 
of  primitive  Christian  days;  and  who  had  in  various 
ways  anticipated  the  characteristic  positions  of  the 
later  English  Prayer  Book. 

A  second  cause  of  change  was  the  rapid  rise  to 
power  and  social  importance  of  the  so-called  middle 
classes  of  society,  the  commercial  classes,  merchants 
and  tradesmen,  as  distinguished  from  both  the  gen- 
try and  labourers.  On  the  religious  side,  they  were 
those  who  had  been  deeply  affected  by  the  spirit  of 
Lollardy.  The  Lollard  tradition,  dating  from  John 


The  English  Reformation  13 

Wycliffe,  was  stronger  in  England  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII  than  is  sometimes  recognised.  It  stood 
for  various  things,  some  good  and  some  bad,  but  for 
none  more  plainly  and  effectively  than  for  devotion 
to  Holy  Scripture.  English  reverence  for  the  Bible 
is  due  chiefly  to  Wycliffe,  whose  influence  has  ex- 
tended from  the  fourteenth  century  to  our  own.  The 
demand  for  an  English  Bible  and  the  satisfaction  of 
that  demand  by  the  authorised  translations  of  Tudor 
and  Stuart  times  were  due  chiefly  to  Lollard  influ- 
ence, which  operated  strongly  to  fashion  the  religious 
character  of  the  middle  classes  in  society.  This 
popular  devotion  to  Scripture  counted  for  much  in 
paving  the  way  for  the  products  of  the  scholarly  and 
devout  researches  of  the  men  of  the  New  Learning. 
In  the  commercial  classes  also  was  a  certain  restive- 
ness  at  the  suggestion  of  anything  mystical  in  reli- 
gion, and  later  also  a  disposition  to  oppose  anything 
like  hereditary  authority,  which  led  to  the  disparage- 
ment of  the  Church's  sacramental  teaching  and  as- 
sertion of  authority,  and  to  negative  tendencies  which 
ultimately  worked  themselves  out  in  the  form  of  Eng- 
lish Puritanism. 

These  causes,  silently  changing  the  disposition  of 
the  people  to  regard  all  existing  institutions  as  in- 
fallible, made  possible  the  national  revolt  brought 
about  by  the  third  cause,  or  more  strictly  speaking 
the  occasion,  of  the  breach  between  the  Church  of 
England  and  Rome,  the  personal  quarrel  between 
King  Henry  VIII  and  Pope  Clement  VII.  So  far  as 
this  personal  quarrel  can  be  related  to  any  under- 
lying movement  in  society,  worthy  of  being  ranked 


14  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

with  the  other  causes  of  change,  it  must  be  connected 
with  the  growing  spirit  of  nationalism.  The  great 
secret  of  Tudor  influence  was  its  ability  to  make  ag- 
gressive sovereigns  appear  as  champions  of  national 
right.  No  sovereigns  were  ever  more  selfish  and  ty- 
rannical than  Henry  VIII  and  his  daughter  Eliza- 
beth; yet  both  were  able  to  make  their  subjects  feel 
that  the  interests  of  the  nation  were  identified  with 
their  own  personal  aggrandisement.  Masterful  as 
they  were,  they  could  never  have  gained  their  ends, 
and  have  maintained,  as  they  did,  an  unrivalled 
popularity,  had  it  not  been  for  the  popular  convic- 
tion that  Bluff  King  Hal  and  Good  Queen  Bess  were 
devoted  heart  and  soul  to  the  interests  of  the  Eng- 
lish people. 

The  facts  in  the  famous  "  King's  Matter "  were 
briefly  these :  Henry  VIII  had  by  special  dispensation 
from  Pope  Julius  II  contracted  a  marriage  forbidden 
by  canon-law.  As  he  had  no  son  to  succeed  him,  at  a 
time  when  assurance  as  to  the  succession  was  a  mat- 
ter of  grave  importance,  and  when  the  heir- 
presumptive  to  the  crown  belonged  to  a  nation  which 
was  England's  traditional  enemy,  he  seems  to  have 
felt  an  honest  scruple,  shared  by  others  in  his  king- 
dom, that  this  failure  of  an  heir  indicated  the  judg- 
ment of  God  upon  an  unlawful  marriage.  This 
scruple,  whatever  its  original  character,  assumed 
formidable  proportions  when — to  use  a  Shakespear- 
ian phrase — "  his  conscience  had  sat  too  near  an- 
other lady."  Determined  to  have  his  marriage  with 
his  brother's  widow  declared  null  and  void,  Henry 
applied  to  the  reigning  pontiff,  Clement  VII,  for  a 


The  English  Reformation  15 

bull  to  this  effect,  knowing  that  papal  bulls  had  been 
provided  in  similar  cases  before.  Clement  wished  to 
gratify  him,  and  expressed  himself  to  this  effect; 
but  he  shrank  from  incurring  the  displeasure  of  the 
imperial  nephew  of  Henry's  queen,  and  shrank  also 
in  the  interests  of  papal  prestige  from  nullifying  the 
action  of  one  of  his  most  recent  predecessors.  Ne- 
gotiations were  protracted,  until  at  last  Henry  in 
his  impatience  had  the  matter  settled  independently 
of  the  Pope  and  his  Curia. 

An  obscure  ecclesiastical  lawyer,  Thomas  Cranmer, 
was  the  first  to  suggest  that  the  way  to  deal  with 
the  matter  was  to  assert  the  independence  of  the  na- 
tional courts.  This  was  the  sole  question  of  principle 
raised  by  Henry's  quarrel  with  Clement;  but  it  had 
far-reaching  consequences.  Henry  claimed  that  in  such 
matters  as  marriage  the  ecclesiastical  courts  of  his 
own  kingdom  were  competent  to  act  without  reference 
to  Rome  or  any  foreign  tribunal.  When  the  national 
court  pronounced  sentence  in  his  favour,  the  decision 
was  generally  accepted  in  England  as  final,  in  spite 
of  popular  sympathy  with  the  discarded  queen.  But 
there  had  been  a  declaration  of  independence  of  the 
Papacy  in  one  particular,  and  this  was  to  lead  to 
denial  of  other  forms  of  the  exercise  of  papal 
authority  in  England.  Most  important  of  all,  it  set 
the  followers  of  the  New  Learning  to  investigating 
and  criticising  the  basis  of  papal  claims  and  of  the 
whole  Church  system.  The  Papacy  was  tested  by 
the  New  Testament  and  by  the  history  of  the  early 
Church.  The  actual  rise  of  the  papal  power,  as  the 
ecclesiastical  embodiment  in  feudal  form  of  the  spirit 


16  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

of  imperial  Rome,  was  indicated  by  a  series  of  acute 
critics.  The  result  of  this  scrutiny  of  papal  claims, 
in  the  light  of  Scripture  and  history,  was  the  general 
conviction  that  the  King  was  right  in  asserting  that 
"  the  Bishop  of  Rome  hath  no  more  authority  in  this 
realm  than  any  other  foreign  Bishop."  National 
feeling  supported  the  King.  Men  of  all  types 
acquiesced  in  this  repudiation  of  papal  jurisdiction, 
even  those  who  later  opposed  change  seeming  at 
first  quite  reconciled  to  the  action  which  had  been 
taken. 

The  actual  question  raised  by  this  discussion  of 
"  the  King's  Matter  "  was  whether  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury's  court  was  not  independent  in  a  cer- 
tain respect  of  the  Pope.  The  criticism  which  re- 
sulted from  the  raising  of  this  question  led  to  a 
readjustment  of  all  existing  ecclesiastical  institu- 
tions. The  nature  of  this  criticism  in  raising  new 
standards,  or  in  restoring  old  standards,  of  authority 
is  the  significant  fact  in  the  whole  incident.  The 
chief  importance  of  the  royal  rebellion  against  the 
Pope  was  that  it  afforded  an  opportunity  for  the 
free  play  for  the  spirit  of  the  New  Learning.  Henry 
overthrew  the  papal  tyranny  not  in  the  interests  of 
fuller  liberty  for  the  Church,  but  that  he  might  es- 
tablish a  royal  tyranny  in  its  place.  In  matters  of 
discipline  he  acted  as  his  own  Pope,  and  by  various 
arbitrary  acts  he  oppressed  the  Church.  His  most 
flagrant  tyranny  was  his  suppression  of  the  English 
monasteries.  Under  cover  of  zeal  for  reformation 
he  inaugurated  a  system  of  unscrupulous  plunder, 
his  schemes  of  further  plunder  of  schools  and 


The  English  Reformation  17 

universities  being  only  thwarted  by  his  timely 
death. 

The  Church  of  England  was  subservient  to  the 
King  in  his  assertion  of  national  independence,  and 
feared  openly  to  oppose  his  schemes;  but  there  is 
abundant  evidence  that  the  mind  of  the  Church  was 
working  in  independence  of,  and  in  advance  of,  the 
mind  of  its  royal  master.  The  Church  of  England 
as  represented  by  its  ecclesiastical  leaders  was  ready 
for  restatement  of  doctrine,  for  revision  of  liturgies, 
and  for  suppression  of  some  superstitious  abuses. 
This  appears  plainly  in  the  so-called  "  Ten  Articles  " 
and  in  the  explanation  of  them  given  in  "  the 
Bishops'  Book."  The  Bible  was  translated  into  Eng- 
lish, and  the  materials  for  the  Prayer  Book  were 
collected.  But,  except  for  the  use  of  English  in 
Lessons  and  Litany,  King  Henry  would  have  none 
of  these  things.  In  the  end  of  his  reign  he  checked 
movements  toward  reform  and  asserted  and  enforced 
subscription  to  the  special  articles  of  current  Latin 
theology.  So  far  is  it  from  being  true  that  Henry 
VIII  founded  the  Church  of  England,  or  even  that 
he  inaugurated  the  Church  of  England's  present 
system,  that  it  was  he  who  prevented  the  assertion 
of  principles  typically  Anglican  by  the  authorities 
of  the  Church,  who  were  ready  to  act.  It  was  neces- 
sary for  the  Bishops  to  bide  their  time  until  after 
his  death.  The  situation  at  the  end  of  Henry's 
reign  has  been  pithily  expressed  by  Dr.  Gairdner, 
"  It  was  the  old  religion  with  the  Pope  left  out."  (To 
be  quite  accurate,  add,  "  and  the  monks.") 

2.  Restatements  of  doctrine  and  changes  in  prac- 


\ 


18  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

tice  were  to  come  later,  but  only  by  slow  degrees. 
For  almost  forty  years  it  was  doubtful  whether  Eng- 
land might  not  return  to  the  papal  obedience;  but 
the  final  issue,  reached  after  much  perplexity  and 
experiment,  was  that  "  there  can  be  no  union  with 
Rome,  until  Rome  be  other  than  she  is."  Under  the 
boy-king,  Edward  VI,  it  became  possible  for  the 
Church  authorities  to  take  action  which  had  been 
checked  by  King  Henry;  and  there  was  a  new  ques- 
tion demanding  speedy  settlement.  It  was  necessary 
to  decide  not  only  whether  the  Church  of  England 
should  adopt  such  changes  as  were  suggested  by  the 
criticism  of  the  men  of  the  New  Learning  in  Eng- 
land, but  also  whether,  if  she  broke  with  the  system 
of  Rome,  she  would  align  herself  with  the  revolting 
bodies  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  either  in  Germany 
or  in  Switzerland.  This  question  was  inevitable  in 
logic,  and  it  was  rendered  pressing  by  politics.  It 
quickly  took  the  definite  form,  How  far  will  the  Eng- 
lish Church  follow  Calvin?  The  only  form  of  Con- 
tinental Protestantism  which  made  any  deep  impres- 
sion in  England  was  the  Swiss.  The  Pope  of  Rome 
had  been  dethroned,  and  the  Pope  of  Geneva  was 
more  than  ready  to  take  his  place.  For  over  a  cen- 
tury determined  effort  was  made  to  supersede  the 
Anglican  by  the  Genevan  system. 

The  history  of  the  English  Church  during  the 
reign  of  Edward  VI  has  two  distinct  aspects  and 
follows  two  distinct  lines.  The  English  Convocation, 
composed  of  the  higher  clergy  of  the  realm,  con- 
tinued such  plans  of  reform  as  had  been  outlined  in 
the  previous  reign,  giving  further  illustration  of  the 


The  English  Reformation  19 

spirit  of  the  New  Learning.  The  English  Privy 
Council  imported  and  favoured  ideas  of  a  new  sort, 
and  gave  a  new  and  startling  exhibition  of  the  pos- 
sible effects  upon  the  Church  of  the  doctrine  of 
Royal  Supremacy.  The  Convocation  and  Privy 
Council  pursued  their  respective  courses  with  little 
reference  to  each  other;  and  the  Convocation,  ig- 
nored in  its  official  capacity  by  those  in  authority, 
seems  not  to  have  taken  strictly  formal  action  in 
regard  to  what  was  unmistakably  its  own  character- 
istic work.  But  even  if  formal  sanction  were  lack- 
ing, the  higher  clergy  did  give  tacit  consent  to  the 
acts  of  the  leading  Bishops,  who  represented  the 
highest  intelligence  in  the  Church  of  their  generation. 
The  chief  acts  of  the  Church,  as  represented  by 
its  natural  leaders,  consisted  in  the  completion  of 
the  alterations  of  doctrinal  and  devotional  formu- 
laries which  had  been  previously  planned.  In  the 
year  of  Henry's  death,  1547,  order  was  issued  that 
the  Epistles  and  Gospels  should  be  read  in  English 
from  the  version  of  the  Bible  published  under  the 
auspices  of  Cranmer.  In  the  following  year,  it  was 
ordered  that  the  whole  of  the  Order  of  the  Com- 
munion should  be  rendered  in  English  instead  of  in 
Latin,  and  that  the  Eucharist  should  be  administered 
to  the  laity  in  both  kinds.  In  1549  appeared  the 
First  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  an  expurgated  and 
condensed  English  version  of  the  Use  of  Salisbury. 
At  the  same  time  the  clergy  were  permitted  to  marry ; 
and  forty-five  Articles  of  Religion  were  drawn  up  by 
Archbishop  Cranmer  to  define  the  position  of  the 
English  Church  upon  certain  mooted  points.  These 


20  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

Articles  were  later  reduced  to  forty-two,  and  still 
later  to  the  familiar  thirty-nine. 

The  English  Prayer  Book  was  displeasing  to  Cal- 
vinists,  by  whose  influence  after  three  years  it  was 
superseded  by  a  revision.  This  Second  Prayer  Book 
was  in  theory  in  use  for  eleven  months,  and  was  des- 
tined by  those  who  favoured  it  to  make  way  for  a 
further  revision  more  in  accord  with  the  teachings  of 
Geneva.  This  plan  was  never  carried  to  completion, 
the  existing  English  Prayer  Book  being  the  Second 
Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI,  altered  in  some  ways 
to  make  it  more  in  accord  with  the  First.  This 
First  Prayer  Book  must  be  taken  as  the  chief  evi- 
dence of  what  was  in  the  minds  of  leading  English 
Churchmen  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
It  indicated  a  determination  to  revise  the  Church 
system  in  accordance  with  first  principles,  without 
sacrifice  of  anything  which  could  claim  sanction  of 
the  Church's  earliest  days.  A  revision  of  canon-law 
was  also  planned ;  and  a  "  visitation  "  was  under- 
taken by  the  Archbishop  with  the  special  object  of 
enforcing  preaching  and  of  suppressing  superstition. 
On  the  whole,  this  was  well  carried  out. 

The  Privy  Council  were  concerned,  however,  not 
with  liturgical  revision,  but  with  schemes  of  plunder. 
They  needed  money,  and  they  wished  to  continue  the 
lucrative  depredations  of  the  late  King.  They  as- 
sumed supremacy  over  the  Church  as  acting  for  the 
Crown  and  sought  to  impose  their  will  directly  on 
the  people.  They  knew  that  Henry  had  spoiled  the 
monasteries  and  monastic  churches  of  property 
worth  more  than  fifty  million  pounds,  and  that  hav- 


The  English  Reformation  21 

ing  squandered  this  he  had  turned  his  eyes  toward 
the  other  churches  and  the  institutions  of  learning. 
They  proceeded  to  carry  out  the  policy  formulated 
in  the  mind  of  their  late  master  by  confiscating  all 
property  belonging  to  colleges,  free  chapels,  chan- 
tries, guilds,  and  brotherhoods,  assigning  as  reason 
that  these  properties,  especially  the  endowments  of 
chantries,  were  used  for  purposes  of  "  superstition." 
They  urged  that  the  property  could  better  be  used 
for  schools,  universities,  and  the  poor.  No  schools 
or  poor  ever  saw  any  of  that  money.  Six  grammar 
schools,  it  is  true,  were  started  afresh  with  a  small 
portion  of  their  original  endowment;  but  this  is  the 
sole  basis  for  the  popular  delusion  that  Edward  VI 
was  a  special  patron  of  learning.  These  endowments 
having  been  seized,  the  next  attack  was  upon  "  or- 
naments," church-decorations,  and  church-plate,  to 
justify  which  there  was  a  great  outcry  against 
"  idolatry."  Images  of  all  kinds  were  ruthlessly 
destroyed,  the  only  exception  made  being  in  favour 
of  "  any  king,  prince,  nobleman,  or  other  dead  per- 
son, which  hath  not  been  commonly  reputed  or  taken 
for  a  saint."  The  graven  saints  were  expelled  and 
the  graven  sinners  left  in  possession.  The  churches 
were  stripped  bare  of  plate,  hangings,  vestments, 
carving,  and  glass;  and  all  who  opposed  the  de- 
struction were  exposed  to  bitter  persecution.  Five 
of  the  older  Bishops,  who  refused  to  connive  at  the 
plunder,  were  imprisoned  upon  trivial  pretexts.  In 
1550  the  universities  were  subjected  to  a  ruinous 
"  visitation,"  and  their  libraries  were  gutted.  There 
was  a  special  outcry  against  the  "  superstition  "  of 


22  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

the  scholastic  theologians.  Books  and  manuscripts 
were  carried  off  by  the  cart-load,  sold  to  tradesmen 
for  fuel,  and  sent  by  shipfuls  to  foreign  book- 
binderies. 

To  give  colour  to  this  pillage  it  was  necessary  for 
the  Privy  Council  to  encourage  any  influence  which 
would  seem  to  excuse  their  action  to  the  popular  con- 
science. Henry  had  been  able  to  suppress  the  monas- 
teries, because  there  was  a  settled,  sober  conviction 
that  the  monasteries  had  outlived  their  usefulness, 
and  that  it  was  better  for  society  that  their  extensive 
property  should  pass  into  other  hands.  Edward  VI's 
Privy  Council  had  to  educate  public  opinion  toward 
similar  convictions  in  regard  to  chantry  endowments 
and  church-plate.  They  found  instruments  to  their 
hand  in  the  Swiss  iconoclasts.  Zwingli  had  raised  a 
war-cry  against  "  idols  " ;  and  the  pet  bug-bears  of 
Swiss  Reform  were  "  idolatry  "  and  "  superstition." 
The  Dukes  of  Somerset  and  Northumberland,  there- 
fore, found  that  it  suited  their  purposes  to  encourage 
fanatical  exponents  of  this  side  of  the  Swiss  teach- 
ing, and  to  favour  in  every  possible  way  agitators 
whose  anti-ecclesiastical  tirades  seemed  to  give  ex- 
cuse to  their  spoliations.  They  found  no  party  dis- 
posed to  such  extreme  views ;  they  created  one.  They 
encouraged  foreign  teachers  of  the  stamp  they  found 
useful;  they  promoted  to  high  posts  men  holding 
views  of  this  sort,  and  by  this  policy  they  introduced 
an  element  of  violent  fanaticism  into  the  English 
Church  which  has  never  been  wholly  lost.  Puri- 
tanism in  its  negative  and  destructive  aspect  is  a 
legacy  of  the  reign  of  Edward  VI. 


The  English  Reformation  23 

Dr.  Hort  describes  the  history  of  the  English 
Church  between  1534  and  1662  as  a  series  of  "  ex- 
periments in  Anglicanism."  Under  Edward  VI,  two 
were  tried:  (1)  the  one  begun  under  Henry,  of  re- 
vised forms  of  worship  in  English,  and  (2)  the  new 
one,  of  borrowing  ideas  and  practices  from  Zurich 
and  Geneva.  The  services  of  the  First  Prayer  Book 
in  the  old  churches  were  fairly  popular;  those  of 
the  Second  Prayer  Book  in  the  shamefully  defaced 
churches  were  not.  The  net  result  of  all  the  events 
of  the  reign  was  to  make  the  people  disgusted  with 
the  policy  of  the  Privy  Council.  Under  Henry  VIII 
it  had  become  clear  that  change  was  necessary ;  under 
Edward  VI  it  had  been  suggested  that  the  change 
be  after  the  model  of  Geneva.  The  popular  answer 
to  this  was,  "  No."  The  tendency  of  opinion  ap- 
peared plainly  in  the  fact  that  the  most  popular 
person  in  the  kingdom  was  the  Princess  Mary,  who 
refused  to  accept  any  changes  whatsoever  and  was 
ready  to  die  for  the  old  religion.  England  ap- 
plauded her  spirit;  and  at  her  brother's  death  she 
came  to  the  throne  with  an  acclaim  of  popular  wel- 
come such  as  has  been  given  to  no  subsequent  Eng- 
lish sovereign. 

3.  The  reign  of  Queen  Mary  was  not,  as  appears 
on  the  surface,  the  undoing  of  the  English  Reforma- 
tion, but  constitutes  an  important  stage  in  its  es- 
tablishment. A  new  experiment  was  tried.  If  it  was 
represented  that  "  reform  "  meant  the  gloomy  and 
destructive  programme  of  the  agents  of  Edward's 
Privy  Council,  the  question  was  inevitably  raised, 
"  Is  it  not  better  to  go  back  to  the  old  system  alto- 

. 


24  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

gether? "  That  was  Mary's  conscientious  and 
bigoted  conviction;  and  that  was  the  suspicion,  if 
not  conviction,  of  a  great  number  of  her  subjects. 
At  any  rate  the  experiment  was  tried,  with  the  re- 
sult that  no  period  in  the  Reformation  history  did 
more  to  convince  Englishmen  that  for  them  the  reli- 
gious system  of  the  Roman  Church  was  absolutely 
impossible  than  this  interval  of  five  years  during 
which  the  papal  authority  and  system  seemed  to  be 
triumphantly  restored.  The  system  of  the  Latin 
Church  was  presented  in  its  most  foreign  form.  A 
Spanish  King  and  an  Italianised  Archbishop,  to- 
gether with  the  imported  methods  of  the  Inquisition, 
were  not  effective  missionaries  for  an  already  dis- 
credited faith.  The  revulsion  from  recent  experi- 
ences and  the  early  popularity  of  the  Queen  made  it 
fairly  easy  to  bring  about  a  formal  reconciliation  of 
the  kingdom  to  the  Papal  See;  but  the  feeling  was 
shortlived.  By  contrast  with  the  Latin  rites  now 
restored,  the  Prayer  Book  services  seemed  vitally 
effective;  and  when  the  reign  of  terror  began,  and 
the  Prayer  Book  had  its  martyrs  in  Oxford  and 
Smithfield,  the  doom  of  the  papal  religion  was  sealed. 
The  net  result  of  Mary's  experiment  was  to  deepen 
the  conviction  that  the  old  religion  had  lost  its  power 
to  rule  or  to  attract  the  England  of  the  new  era; 
and  the  sovereign  who  had  sought  its  restoration 
was  handed  down  to  history  as  the  "  bloody  "  Queen. 
4.  At  the  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth  popular 
sentiment  was  in  favour  of  an  English  service  and 
an  English  freedom  for  an  English  Church.  Eliza- 
beth's popularity — not  so  great  as  her  sister's  to 


The  English  Reformation  25 

begin  with,  but  increasing  to  a  degree  that  has  had 
no  parallel — was  due  chiefly  to  her  ability  to  make 
her  people  feel  that  she  was  an  entirely  English  sov- 
ereign. She  had  unlimited  courage,  shrewd  sense, 
and  a  woman's  tact.  She  had  little  principle  and 
probably  little  genuine  regard  for  religious  inter- 
ests; but  her  influence  was  used,  and  used  success- 
fully, to  establish  the  system  of  the  English  Prayer 
Book.  In  this  she  was  doubtless  carrying  out  the 
wishes  of  a  great  majority  of  her  subjects,  whose 
religious  genius  and  capacity  she  rightly  interpreted. 
In  her  reign  the  question  of  the  relation  of  the  na- 
tional Church  to  the  Roman  See  was  finally  settled. 
Theoretically  settled  it  had  been  before;  but  it  was 
not  clear  that  the  character  and  attitude  of  the  Ro- 
man Church  might  not  be  changed  by  the  reforms 
expected  at  Trent;  nor  wholly  clear  whether  Eng- 
land's political  interests  would  permit  her  to  hold 
aloof  from  the  dominant  religion  in  Europe.  The 
final  breach  with  Rome  came  in  1571,  when  the  papal 
power  was  clearly  arrayed  against  the  English  na- 
tion. A  crusade  was  proclaimed  against  England, 
and  men  had  to  choose  between  the  Pope  and  the 
Queen.  National  spirit  was  aroused  in  defence  of 
what  had  now  come  to  be  regarded  as  the  national 
religion,  and  there  came  settled  conviction  that  the 
breach  could  never  be  healed. 

It  was  during  Elizabeth's  reign  that  the  first  stage 
of  the  English  Reformation  came  to  an  end,  and  be- 
fore proceeding  to  speak  of  events  belonging  to  the 
second  stage,  which  occurred  during  the  same  period, 
it  may  be  well  to  seek  the  central  thought  and  pre- 


26  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

vailing  principle  which  determined  the  issue  of  this 
first  controversy.  It  is  most  easy  to  do  this  by 
reference  to  representative  men  of  the  period.  If 
it  is  necessary  to  select  one  man,  who  best  personi- 
fies the  spirit  of  this  first  stage  of  the  English  Ref- 
ormation, there  is  no  question  as  to  who  that  one 
must  be.  Thomas  Cranmer,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury under  Henry  and  Edward,  is  both  by  position 
and  by  character  the  representative  of  his  time.  He 
is  not  heroic  nor  a  masterful  leader;  but  neither  was 
the  Church  he  served  distinguished  in  his  day  for 
heroism  or  leadership.  He  is  singularly  disappoint- 
ing in  many  ways ;  so  is  the  Church  of  his  day.  But 
there  are  three  ways  of  looking  at  Cranmer,  in  which 
his  whole  life  may  be  regarded  as  typical.  First, 
in  his  impressionability.  He  lived  in  a  time  of  seeth- 
ing unrest,  when  many  ideas  were  in  the  air,  and 
many  forces  contending  for  dominance.  His  very 
timidity  of  natural  disposition  and  readiness  to  yield 
to  a  stronger  will  made  it  easy  for  him  to  absorb 
something  of  every  influence  and  force  to  which  he 
was  exposed  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  him  a  repre- 
sentative man  in  his  unusually  wide  receptiveness. 
Lacking  in  character  for  leadership,  he  was  yet  able 
to  be  an  effective  leader  by  the  wisdom  which  came 
from  his  wide  and  well-utilised  experience.  In  a 
period  of  unrest,  he  was  able  to  learn  something 
from  every  quarter;  and  in  breadth  of  intelligence 
and  variety  of  feeling  he  was  able  to  make  up  for 
what  he  lacked  in  strength  of  will.  He  can  never  be 
ranked  as  a  man  of  first  class  in  character;  he  was 
unmistakably  a  man  of  first  class  in  influence.  Sec- 


The  English  Reformation  27 

ondly,  he  is  typical  man  of  his  time  in  his  deter- 
mination that  the  truths  of  Christianity  should  be 
brought  home  to  men  in  their  own  tongue.  To  Cran- 
mer  chiefly  do  we  owe  both  our  English  Bible  and 
our  Prayer  Book.  Their  moving,  musical,  and 
majestic  English  constitute  his  imperishable  monu- 
ment. So  long  as  we  reverence  the  truths  they  teach, 
and  have  wit  to  admire  their  inimitable  excellence  of 
form,  so  long  must  we  revere  his  pathetic  memory. 
Thirdly,  he  is  typical  man  of  the  Bible  and  Prayer 
Book  period  as  its  most  conspicuous  martyr.  His 
efforts  to  save  his  life  by  recantation  were  pitiful; 
but  at  last  he  died  bravely.  His  waverings  in  opin- 
ion, as  he  was  swayed  by  this  influence  or  that,  are 
confusing  and  disappointing;  but  he  ended  by  pro- 
fessing his  loyalty  to  the  principles  of  the  Prayer 
Book  which  he  had  chief  share  in  shaping.  He  was 
condemned  for  heresy,  which  involved  three  items, 
all  of  which  meant  the  teaching  of  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer ;  first,  concerning  "  ceremonies  of  the 
Church,"  which  meant  preference  for  English  over 
Latin  rites;  second,  concerning  papal  supremacy, 
the  rightfulness  of  which  he  denied;  third,  heresy 
concerning  the  presence  of  our  Lord's  Body  in  the 
Eucharist.  He  rejected  scholastic  definitions  for 
the  simpler  statements  of  Scripture.  He  did  not 
deny  the  genuine  giving  of  something  spiritual;  but 
he  preferred  to  speak  of  this  in  language  similar  to 
that  of  our  Articles  and  Catechism.  "  The  true 
body  of  Christ,"  he  said,  "  is  present  to  those  who 
truly  receive  Him.  .  .  .  Inwardly  we  eat  Christ's 
Body;  outwardly  we  eat  the  sacrament.  Yet  the 


28  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

Body  of  Christ  is  in  the  sacrament  both  by  sub- 
stance and  by  efficacy."  When  for  these  beliefs 
he  was  first  degraded,  and  then  burned,  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Pope  and  Queen  Mary,  we  must 
recognise  that  here  was  one  who  sealed  by  death  the 
teaching  of  his  life,  and  in  death  as  well  as  in  life 
was  loyal  to  that  form  of  Christianity  which  we 
ourselves  accept  as  faithfully  representing  the  teach- 
ing of  our  Lord. 

As  indicating  the  basal  principle  whereby  the 
Church  of  England  justified  itself  for  its  attitude 
toward  the  Latin  Communion  and  for  the  system 
which  it  adopted  for  itself,  reference  may  be  made 
to  two  of  the  first  generation  who  were  trained  by 
the  Prayer  Book  and  became  prominent  during  the 
reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  The  first  is  John  Jewel, 
Bishop  of  Salisbury,  who  published  in  156£  an 
Apology  for  the  Church  of  England,  which  was  the 
first  formal  defence  of  Anglicanism  as  a  system. 
In  this  he  elaborates  a  famous  challenge  he  had 
made  several  years  before  in  a  sermon  at  Paul's 
Cross.  Jewel's  principle  is  simply  this,  that  nothing 
can  be  regarded  as  essential  to  Catholic  Christianity 
which  did  not  exist  in  the  primitive  Church.  We 
can  accept  no  criterion  of  Catholicity  which  would 
rule  out  the  primitive  fathers  and  the  Apostles.  That 
principle  determined  the  beliefs  of  the  Anglican  re- 
formers and  was  the  touchstone  of  their  practice  in 
the  work  of  revision.  It  would  be  futile  to  maintain 
that  they  had  such  perfect  knowledge  as  to  be  able 
to  apply  the  principle  with  invariable  accuracy;  but 
as  a  principle  decisive  in  regard  to  doctrine,  rite, 


The  English  Reformation  29 

and  government,  this  rule  goes  farther  than  any 
other  to  explain  the  constitution  and  teaching  of 
the  Church  of  England  and  our  own. 

It  is  this  principle  which  lies  at  the  bottom  of 
the  teaching  of  one  of  the  wisest  of  the  Reformation 
Archbishops,  Matthew  Parker.  In  a  letter  to  one 
of  the  Marian  Bishops,  who  refused  to  accept  the 
restored  Prayer  Book,  and  remained  loyal  to  the 
Pope,  he  wrote,  with  a  touch  of  controversial  bit- 
terness which  is  unusual  in  one  of  so  sympathetic 
a  character  as  his:  "We  yield  more  subjection  unto 
Christ  and  His  Apostles  than  ye  fathers  of  the  Rom- 
ish tribe  do;  for  we  honour  and  adore  Christ  as  the 
true  Son  of  God,  equal  with  His  Father  as  well  in 
authority  as  in  majesty,  and  do  make  Him  no  for- 
eigner to  the  realm,  as  you  members  and  clergy  of 
the  Church  of  Rome  do;  but  we  profess  Him  to  be 
our  only  Maker  and  Redeemer,  and  Ruler  of  His 
Church,  not  only  in  this  realm,  but  also  in  all  na- 
tions, unto  Whom  princes  and  preachers  are  but 
servants;  the  preachers  to  propose,  and  the  princes 
to  execute,  Christ's  will  and  commandment,  Whom 
you  and  all  that  desire  to  be  saved  must  believe  and 
obey,  against  all  councils  and  tribunals  who  do  dis- 
sent from  His  word,  whether  regal  or  papal."  "  The 
Apostles  we  reverence  and  obey,  as  the  messengers 
from  Christ,  and  do  receive  their  writings  with  ex- 
acter  obedience  than  Romanists  do ;  for  we  will  not 
permit,  as  Rome  and  her  clergy  do,  any  to  dis- 
pense against  the  Scriptures.  .  .  .  We  confess  the 
Apostles  were  men  allowed  of  God,  to  whom  the  Gos- 
pel should  be  committed,  and  therefore  we  receive 


30  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

the  Word  from  them,  not  as  the  word  of  man,  but 
as  it  is  truly  the  Word  of  God;  assuring  ourselves 
it  is  God's  power  to  save  all  who  believe.  Thus  doth 
our  Reformation  detest  your  Romish  errors  and 
heinous  presumptions,  which  makes  your  Romish 
writers  and  Popes  to  add,  alter,  and  diminish,  nay 
also  to  dispense  with  the  words  which  Christ  Himself 
spake,  as  well  as  the  writings  of  the  Apostles."  "  We 
have  imitated  the  [African]  fathers  by  our  Refor- 
mation and  denying  of  unlawful  demands.  .  .  . 
Ye,  through  your  perverseness,  have  separated  your- 
selves not  only  from  us,  but  from  these  ancient  fa- 
thers and  their  opinions."  "  I  answered  [to  some 
French]  that  I  would  wish  them  to  come  nigher  to 
us,  grounding  ourselves,  as  we  do,  upon  the  apos- 
tolical doctrine  and  pure  time  of  the  primitive 
Church."  2  No  words  could  express  better  than 
these  last  the  aim  and  belief  of  those  who  gave  us 
our  Prayer  Book  and  our  Bible. 


1.  The  second  stage  of  the  English  Reformation 
overlaps  the  first,  and  may  be  dated  roughly  from 
1549  to  1662.  During  this  the  Church  of  England 
became  more  clearly  conscious  of  its  principles  and 
developed  its  strength  in  new  ways  in  its  efforts  to 
determine  its  relations  to  the  religious  system  of 
John  Calvin.  Its  first  acquaintance  with  Swiss 
influence  had  been  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI,  when 

1  Letter  to  Archbishop  Heath  of  March  26,  1560.    Parker's 
Works,  pp.  110,  112. 

2  Letter  to  Sir  William  Cecil,  1564.    Parkers  Works,  p.  216. 


The  English  Reformation  31 

iconoclastic  ideas,  Zwinglian  rather  than  Calvinist, 
had  been  fostered  for  obvious  motives  by  the  Privy 
Council.  But  the  overthrow  of  this  faction  did  not 
mean  the  elimination  of  Swiss  influence.  In  the  reign 
of  Elizabeth,  England  was  to  learn  more  of  the 
stronger  and  nobler  types  of  Calvin's  followers.  It 
is  possible  to  distinguish  at  least  three  classes  of 
Puritans — to  use  the  common  name  for  English  Cal- 
vinists — the  iconoclastic  type,  destructive,  purely 
negative,  repellent ;  the  mystical  type,  showing  many 
beautiful  traits  of  Christian  character,  but  usually 
erratic  if  not  fanatical;  and  the  moderate  type, 
which  constituted  the  bulk  of  the  party  in  England, 
noted  for  its  sober,  resolute  righteousness.  There 
were  various  elements  in  English  society,  which  were 
ready  to  welcome  the  Calvinistic  teaching  and  tem- 
per. The  Lollard  influence  assumed  this  form;  the 
commercial  classes  welcomed  a  system  which  seemed 
to  minimize  the  element  of  mystery  in  religion  and 
in  life ;  the  exigencies  of  politics  induced  England  to 
be  on  cordial  terms  with  continental  Protestants  and 
Reformed.  Some  of  Elizabeth's  courtiers,  notably 
the  Earl  of  Leicester,  wished  to  favour  enemies  of 
the  Church's  system  for  the  same  reason  as  Ed- 
ward's Protectors. 

For  thirty  years  of  Elizabeth's  reign  there  seemed 
to  be  an  irresistible  tendency  Genevaward ;  but  by  the 
end  of  her  reign  it  had  been  made  quite  clear  (1) 
that  the  Church  of  England  had  refused  to  abandon 
her  heritage  as  an  historic  Church  to  become  a  new 
sect;  (£)  that  she  had  succeeded  in  assimilating  such 
elements  of  the  Calvinist  system  as  appeared  in  the 


32  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

moderate  Puritans ;  who,  disgusted  by  the  excesses  of 
the  fanatics  of  their  party,  were  willing1  to  throw 
in  their  lot  with  the  Church;  and  (3)  that  by  rig- 
orous enforcement  of  conformity  she  had  driven 
several  sets  of  non-conformists  from  the  country. 

In  the  system  of  Calvin  the  Church  of  England 
found  a  rival  with  which  she  found  it  necessary  to 
struggle  for  more  than  a  hundred  years.  The 
strength  of  the  Calvinist  influence  was  not  due 
merely  to  accidental  considerations  of  politics  or  of 
selfish  policy,  but  to  the  undoubted  strength  of  the 
system  itself.  This  appeared  in  its  strong  positive 
principles,  teaching  the  fear  of  God  and  developing 
powerful  wills;  in  the  overpowering  logic  of  its  for- 
mal statement  in  the  Institutes  of  Calvin,  which  for 
a  long  time  was  the  only  complete  system  of  modern 
divinity  easily  available;  in  the  convincing  lives  of 
earnest  men,  who  were  the  moral  superiors  of  many 
of  the  clergy  in  a  worldly-minded  Church.  Then, 
too,  Calvinists  as  a  class  were  aggressive,  masterful 
men.  They  admitted  no  compromise  and  were  in 
the  habit  of  having  their  way.  In  England  their 
objections  to  the  regulations  of  the  Church  had  to 
do  with  comparative  trifles,  the  sign  of  the  Cross, 
wafer-bread,  altars,  surplices,  clerical  dress  of  any 
sort;  but  these  things  indicated  a  rooted  aversion 
from  the  whole  Church  system  and  the  sacramental 
teaching  of  the  Prayer  Book,  and  a  determination 
on  their  part  to  fashion  the  English  Church  wholly 
after  the  Genevan  model.  As  the  radically  de- 
structive character  of  the  Puritan  demands  appeared, 
two  things  happened.  The  Church  became  more 


The  English  Reformation  33 

resolute  to  defend  itself,  and  the  moderate  Puritans 
became  reconciled  to  Anglican  ways.  The  strength 
of  Puritanism  lay  in  its  insistence  on  a  personal  rela- 
tion between  God  and  man  and  hatred  of  a  pro- 
fessional religion.  While  intellectually  it  failed  to 
demonstrate  its  right  to  destroy  the  polity  and  sac- 
raments of  the  English  Church,  it  did  demonstrate 
that  the  English  Church,  if  it  were  to  survive,  must 
make  a  home  for  its  moral  earnestness ;  and  Anglican 
history  has  been  deeply  and  beneficially  affected  by 
the  assimilation  of  this  element. 

2.  The  question  of  the  Anglican  attitude  toward 
Calvinism   seemed  to  have  been  settled  by  the  end 
of  Elizabeth's  reign;  but  Puritanism  revived  under 
the   political   conditions   which   grew   up   under   the 
Stuarts.     In  the  great  contest  between  royal  abso- 
lutism and  the  defence  of  popular  rights  by  parlia- 
mentary authority,  the  Church  of  England  allied  it- 
self to  the  falling  cause  of  monarchy ;  and  this  alli- 
ance proved  a  millstone   around  its   neck.      It  was 
weakened  by  identification  with  interests  inimical  to 
the  nation;  its   foes  became  powerful  more  by  the 
accidents  of  politics  than  by  any  new  moral  strength 
to  their  cause;  and  with  the  overthrow  of  the  mon- 
archy came  the  overthrow  of  the  Church,  and  the 
setting  up  of  a  Calvinist  establishment. 

3.  The  triumph  of  Puritanism  under  the  Common- 
wealth  served  in   the   second  stage  of  the   English 
Reformation  a   function   analogous   to  that  of  the 
triumph  of  Romanism  under  Queen  Mary  in  the  first. 
The  people  were  not  sure  but  that  they  wanted  this 
system  after  all.    They  got  it ;  and  they  got  enough 


34  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

of  it.  The  rule  of  Cromwell  as  effectually  sealed  the 
doom  of  Puritanism  as  the  dominant  religion  for 
England  as  the  rule  of  Bloody  Mary  sealed  the  doom 
of  Romanism.  Cromwell  pled  for  tolerance;  but  his 
tolerance  extended  only  to  different  species  of  Cal- 
vinists.  Papists,  Prelatists,  Infidels,  and  Quakers 
had  no  share  in  his  tender  mercies.  The  Prayer  Book 
was  proscribed ;  its  use  became  again  an  offence  pun- 
ishable by  fine,  imprisonment,  and  exile;  some  few 
met  their  deaths  because  of  their  devotion  to  it.  But 
never  had  its  influence  been  really  greater,  and  never 
was  the  triumph  of  its  principles  over  its  enemies 
more  assured  than  in  the  day  of  persecution. 

4.  The  restoration  of  the  monarchy  saw  the  res- 
toration of  the  Church,  not  only  to  a  position  of 
political  importance,  but  also  to  a  position  of  as- 
sured lodgment  in  the  minds  and  affections  of  most 
of  the  English  people.  It  was  the  Prayer  Book  and 
the  Prayer  Book  only  that  the  people  wanted;  and 
nothing  could  shake  its  authority.  The  most  strik- 
ing example  of  this  appears  from  the  fact  that  the 
later  Stuarts,  however  unfriendly,  could  not  change 
it.  Two  of  them  were  Roman  Catholics;  but  they 
could  not  dislodge  the  Prayer  Book.  The  one  who 
tried  dislodged  himself.  One  of  them  was  a  Cal- 
vinist  and  opposed  to  the  Anglican  system;  but  he 
could  do  nothing  to  supersede  it.  The  weakest  of 
all  the  Stuarts  enjoyed  comparatively  great  popu- 
larity and  influence  because  of  her  supposed  devotion 
to  the  Church's  cause.  Whatever  its  strength,  or 
whatever  its  weakness,  by  the  last  quarter  of  the 
seventeenth  century  the  position  of  the  Anglican 


The  English  Reformation  35 

Church  system  was  assured  as  an  important  factor 
in  the  religious  problems  of  the  next  two  hundred 
years. 

5.  It  is  possible  to  illustrate  this  stage  of  the 
history  as  well  as  the  former  by  reference  to  an 
apologist  and  an  Archbishop.  The  special  defender 
of  the  English  Church  against  the  Puritan  attack 
was  Richard  Hooker,  who  more  than  any  other  one 
theologian  has  given  to  Anglicanism  a  tone  and 
direction,  which  it  has  never  lost.  He  tested  the 
Puritan  claims  at  the  bar  of  Scripture,  history,  and 
common-sense,  and  refuted  them;  and  by  the  same 
criteria  strove  to  justify  the  Church,  whose  cham- 
pion he  had  become.  The  special  characteristics  are 
what  Mr.  Gladstone  calls  "  his  massive  reasoning," 
his  studied  moderation,  whereby  he  strove  to  allow 
full  weight  to  every  opposing  argument  and  to  give 
place  to  every  point  of  view  differing  from  his  own, 
and  the  majesty  of  his  language,  which  has  made  his 
Ecclesiastical  Polity  an  English,  as  well  as  an 
Anglican,  classic.  "  Puritanism,"  writes  Dr.  S.  R. 
Gardiner,  "  with  its  healthy  faith  and  manly  vigour 
long  continued  to  supply  the  muscle  and  sinew  of 
English  religion;  but  its  narrow  severity  has  given 
way  before  the  broader  and  gentler  teaching  of  the 
disciples  of  Hooker  and  Andrews."  * 

The  Archbishop  in  the  second  stage  who  corre- 
sponds to  Cranmer  in  the  first  is,  of  course,  none 
other  than  Laud.  The  one  was  burned  by  Roman- 
ists, the  other  beheaded  by  Puritans,  for  one  and 

1  Gardiner:  History  of  England,  II:  125. 


36  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

the  same  reason,  namely,  devotion  to  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer.  Neither  had  a  character  of  win- 
ning attractiveness ;  and  yet  both  command  not  only 
pity  but  respect.  Cranmer  was  timid  and  yielding; 
Laud  was  nothing  like  that.  He  was  a  stiff,  sturdy, 
little  person,  bustling  about  many  affairs ;  "  little 
meddling  hocus-pocus "  he  was  called ;  devoted  to 
many  sorts  of  good  work,  yet  offending  most  by  his 
brusque  and  testy  manners,  and  living  with  appar- 
ently only  one  conviction,  namely,  that  the  human 
race  was  created  for  the  sole  purpose  of  obeying  the 
rubrics  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  He  aimed 
at  nothing,  and  cared  for  nothing  but  the  successful 
working  of  that  ecclesiastical  system  with  which  we 
are  ourselves  identified;  yet  by  his  methods  of  in- 
sisting upon  trifling  points,  his  exalting  of  means 
above  ends,  his  strict  and  petty  legalism,  and  the 
roughness  of  his  dealings  with  touchy  people,  he 
did  more  to  disaffect  those  who  were  ready  and  de- 
sirous to  be  disaffected  than  any  one  man  of  his  time. 
He  himself  was  strictly  obedient  to  law;  and  he  de- 
manded prompt  and  complete  obedience  from  all 
others.  He  was  a  very  conscientious,  simple,  humble, 
little  soul,  without  a  bit  of  bitterness  or  rancour; 
but  the  real  beauty  of  his  character,  as  it  appears 
in  his  Diary  and  Devotions,  was  hidden  by  his  bris- 
tling exterior;  and  the  little  man  went  to  his  death 
almost  unappreciated  even  by  those  who  were  closest 
to  him.  He  was  declared  a  traitor;  but  the  sum 
and  substance  of  his  offending  was  that  he  had  un- 
dertaken to  enforce  the  existing  law  of  the  Church. 
From  this  he  was  unwilling  to  subtract  one  jot  or 


The  English  Reformation  37 

one  tittle;  but  the  opposition  to  him  was  determined 
by  opposition  to  the  Church,  of  which  he  was  chief 
minister.  It  was  significant  that  the  only  twelve 
lords  who  could  be  collected  to  declare  his  attainder 
at  the  same  time  abolished  the  Prayer  Book.  Laud 
was  exposed  to  much  needless  aggravation ;  but 
he  stood  the  test  of  persecution  well ;  and  he  made  a 
simple,  brave,  and  Christian  end.  These  words  from 
his  will  are  characteristic :  "  I  die,  as  I  have  lived, 
in  the  true  orthodox  profession  of  the  Catholic  Faith 
of  Christ,  foreshadowed  by  the  prophets,  and 
preached  to  the  world  by  Christ  Himself,  His  blessed 
Apostles  and  their  successors ;  and  a  true  member  of 
His  Catholic  Church,  within  communion  of  a  living 
part  thereof,  the  present  Church  of  England,  as  it 
stands  established  by  law" 

In  these  words  is  a  strong  claim  for  the  spiritual 
position  of  the  Church  of  England ;  but  it  is  coupled 
with  a  qualification  indicative  not  only  of  the  ab- 
sence of  a  true  sense  of  proportion  in  the  mind  of 
Laud,  whom  we  cannot  fail  to  reverence,  when  we 
know  his  devotion  to  that  which  has  for  us  supreme 
value,  but  also  of  a  special  weakness  in  the  Church 
of  England's  position.  There  has  been  too  much 
stress  laid  on  its  being  "  established  by  law,"  too 
great  a  tendency  to  treat  its  legal  and  political  es- 
tablishment as  paramount  in  importance  to  its  hold 
on  primitive  principle.  Erastianism  has  been  the 
besetting  sin,  and  is  now  the  congenital  weakness, 
of  the  English  Church.  State-support  has  made  it 
possible  for  it  to  play  its  great  part  in  the  history 
of  the  nation  and  of  the  world;  but  on  the  other 


38  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

hand,  it  has  tended  to  lower  the  tone  of  the  Church 
by  obscuring  its  true  character  as  a  spiritual 
society. 

If  English  Church  history  has  one  special  lesson, 
and  if  there  be  one  lesson  which  the  Anglican  Church 
has  had  the  best  of  opportunities  to  learn,  and  ought 
to  be  in  a  position  to  teach,  it  is  the  lesson  illus- 
trated by  that  whole  period,  which  has  just  been 
sketched,  the  duty  of  balance  by  combination.  The 
characteristic  Anglican  virtue  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
balance;  its  contribution  to  religious  development 
ought  to  be  the  safeguarding  of  the  whole  of  truth 
by  the  combination  of  opposing  or  partial  truths, 
whose  harmony  is  not  at  first  apparent. 


n 

ANGLICAN  CONSERVATISM 

IF  I  were  asked  to  name  one  man  who  seemed  to 
me  best  to  embody  the  spirit  of  the  English  Refor- 
mation in  the  Reformation  period,  I  should  go  out 
of  England  to  find  him.  I  should  say  without  hesi- 
tation that,  on  the  whole,  the  best  example  of  the 
principles  and  intention  of  the  English  Church  was 
to  be  found  in  Desiderius  Erasmus.  Erasmus'  ac- 
tual connection  with  England  was  slight,  although 
his  influence  was  of  sufficient  weight  to  make  it  im- 
possible ever  to  ignore  it.  But,  apart  from  this,  the 
Reformation  in  England  followed  lines,  and  was  de- 
termined by  a  spirit,  which  belong  to  his  special 
genius.  Erasmus  would  have  tested  all  Christian 
institutions  by  New  Testament  standards.  He  was 
one  who  strove  to  discriminate  between  the  perma- 
nent and  the  transitory,  between  the  essential  and 
the  accidental,  and  who  strove  to  purify  and  to 
modify,  though  not  to  overthrow,  the  Church  of  his 
day  by  a  return  to  the  simpler  standards  of  the  first 
Christian  age.  His  radical  disbelief  in  the  conven- 
tions of  mediaeval  feudalism  as  being  of  essential  im- 
portance to  the  Christian  faith,  distinguished  him 
from  the  class  of  men  who  worked  for  reform  at 
Trent;  although  he  never  renounced  the  communion 


40  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

of  the  Latin  Church.  His  suspicion  of  the  radical 
departures  from  the  structural  principles  of  the  his- 
toric Church,  which  he  detected  and  deplored  in 
Luther  and  Zwingli,  distinguishes  him  clearly  from 
the  whole  class  of  Continental  reformers.  He  was  soli- 
tary in  his  theories  and  beliefs.  He  had  immense  in- 
fluence, but  little  of  a  following.  There  was  never 
any  body  of  Erasmians.  But  after  his  death  the 
changes  in  England  did  follow  very  closely  such 
lines  as  he  had  indicated  as  likely  to  lead  to  improve- 
ment; and  it  is  easy  to  believe  that,  had  he  lived 
until  a  later  date,  he  would  have  recognised  his  kin- 
ship to  the  typically  Anglican  trend  of  thought.  In 
his  lifetime  he  recognised  the  specially  congenial 
character  of  his  English  pupils,  whose  influence 
counted  for  much  in  the  training  of  two  generations. 
Of  all  the  forces  making  for  change  in  England,  the 
New  Learning  was  the  one  which  weighed  most  heav- 
ily; and  Erasmus  was  the  father  of  the  New  Learn- 
ing in  England. 

There  are  always  two  sides  and  two  aspects  of 
Anglican  development,  a  conservative  and  a  pro- 
gressive, the  balance  and  interplay  of  which  deter- 
mine the  character  of  Anglican  history.  From  this 
constant  and  constitutional  balance  there  are  two 
main  results:  (1)  the  conservatism  is  not  synony- 
mous with  antiquarianism  or  immobility ;  ( 2 )  the 
progress  is  always  conditioned  by  the  requirements 
of  primitive  law.  There  was  a  similar  combination 
in  Erasmus.  As  distinct  from  the  contented  up- 
holders of  things  as  they  were,  he  was  progressive ; 
as  distinguished  from  advocates  of  rash  and  radical 


Anglican  Conservatism  41 

measures,  he  was  signally  conservative.  As  a  result 
he  did  not  wholly  like  anybody ;  and  nobody  wholly 
approved  of  him.  In  this  again,  his  effort  to  pre- 
serve balance  between  extremes  displeasing  to  parti- 
sans on  either  side,  his  history  is  not  wholly  unlike 
that  of  the  Church  with  which  it  is  here  associated. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  consider  the 
chief  marks  of  Anglican  Conservatism.  The  most 
obvious  illustrations  of  this  are  to  be  found  in  the 
four  points  specified  as  the  necessary  conditions  of 
Church  Unity  in  the  Chicago-Lambeth  Quadrilat- 
eral; Scriptures,  Creeds,  Sacraments,  Ministry,  pro- 
posed as  a  sort  of  fourfold  foundation  for  a  modern 
presentation  of  ancient  Christianity.  It  may  be  as- 
serted that  the  conservatism  of  the  Anglican  position 
appears  first  in  its  Authority,  second  in  its  Doctrine, 
third  in  its  Mysticism,  and  fourth  in  its  Government. 

1.  Our  mother  Church  of  England  has  always 
been  distinguished  by  great  devotion  to  Holy  Scrip- 
ture. In  no  part  of  Europe  during  the  Reformation 
was  there  more  consistent  effort  made  to  use  Scrip- 
ture as  final  authority.  This  was  due  to  two  lines 
of  development,  traceable  respectively  to  Wycliffe 
and  Erasmus.  The  Lollard  devotion  to  the  Bible 
was  often  more  zealous  than  intelligent,  and  often 
associated  with  violent  fanaticism.  By  itself  it  was 
more  akin  to  Continental  Protestantism  than  to  Eng- 
lish. Luther  recognised  his  kinship  to  Wycliffe;  and 
Lollardy  pure  and  simple  lost  itself  in  the  stream 
of  English  Calvinism.  But  Lollardy  was  responsible 
for  the  popular  demand  for  Scriptural  knowledge, 
which  counted  as  one  of  the  chief  signs  of  religious 


42  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

interest  during  the  period.  Lollardy  was  responsi- 
ble for  a  popular  craving ;  but  it  was  the  New  Learn- 
ing which  was  responsible  for  its  scholarly  and  truly 
spiritual  satisfaction.  It  was  Erasmus,  rather  than 
Wycliffe,  who  stands  at  the  head  of  the  long  line 
of  Biblical  scholars  who  have  adorned  the  modern 
Church  of  England.  Wycliffe  is  chiefly  responsible 
for  Tyndale,  Coverdale,  and  Foxe;  but  Erasmus 
rather  is  the  precursor  of  Cranmer,  Parker,  An- 
drewes,  and  Westcott.  To  him  and  his  school  may 
be  traced  that  devotion  to  sound  learning,  and  the 
devotion  of  sound  learning  to  Scriptural  study  and 
criticism,  which  have  formed  one  of  the  chief  glories 
of  the  English  Church.  This  learning  embraced  in 
its  scope  not  only  the  original  languages  of  the 
Scriptures,  but  also  the  whole  field  of  Christian  his- 
tory; and  this  it  was  which  determined  the  nature 
of  the  changes  made  in  the  Church's  practice.  Sound 
learning  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  Christian  title- 
deeds  was  ultimately  responsible  for  the  English 
Bible  and  Prayer  Book. 

This  devotion  to  Scripture  meant  chiefly  devotion 
to  the  New  Testament.  While  the  appeal  to  Scrip- 
ture rather  than  to  the  Church,  as  represented  in 
the  Papacy,  was  characteristic  of  all  the  reformers, 
English  reformers  were  distinguished  from  the  great 
Continental  leaders  in  their  method  of  reference  to 
the  New  Testament,  They  resembled  Luther  in  re- 
ferring to  the  New  Testament  rather  than  the  Old,  as 
distinct  from  Calvin,  who,  seeking  for  a  code  of 
detailed  laws  issued  by  the  Sovereign  of  the  universe, 
found  most  of  what  he  sought  in  the  Pentateuch. 


Anglican  Conservatism  43 

The  decrees  of  irresistible  Jehovah,  as  more  ex- 
plicitly stated  in  the  books  of  the  Law  than  in  the 
Gospels,  seemed  to  lend  themselves  more  readily  to 
application  in  the  society  of  Geneva.  Calvin's  pre- 
dominant conception  of  God  as  Power,  as  well  as 
his  seeking  for  clearly  defined  laws,  led  him  to  make 
much  use  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures;  and  it 
is  noticeable  that  Calvinism  always  creates  an  Old 
Testament  atmosphere.  In  their  preference  for  the 
New  Testament  Scriptures,  both  Lutherans  and 
Anglicans  are  distinguished  from  Calvinists.  But 
there  are  differences  between  them.  Luther,  seeking 
a  theory  of  individual  justification,  which  should 
correspond  to  his  own  religious  experience,  narrowly 
concentrated  his  attention  upon  certain  chapters  in 
St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  He  had  compara- 
tively scant  regard  for  those  portions  of  the  Bible 
which  did  not  seem  to,  or  did  not,  teach  justifica- 
tion by  faith  only  in  his  own  fashion.  His  use  of 
Scripture  was  less  varied  than  that  of  the  fathers 
of  the  Prayer  Book.  Yet  it  cannot  be  claimed  that 
in  their  use  of  Scripture  Anglicans  always  displayed 
perfect  sense  of  proportion.  Perhaps  a  character- 
istic limitation  would  appear  in  a  tendency  to  con- 
centrate attention  upon  such  details  as  appear  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  somewhat  more  than  upon 
Gospel  facts  and  Epistle  theology.  Where  the  Latins 
would  quote  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  or  the  Master  of 
Sentences,  and  illustrate,  if  possible,  from  Scripture, 
where  Calvin  would  quote  Leviticus,  or  Luther  Ro- 
mans iii:28  (cf.  iv:5),  the  Anglicans  would  quote 
the  Acts.  Their  special  virtue  is  that  they  set  out 


44  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

to  fashion  their  practice  after  the  primitive  pat- 
tern; but  it  is  a  special  limitation  that  they  were 
often  content  with  correct  forms  of  practice  with- 
out adequate  regard  to  principles  lying  behind  them. 

Anglicanism  can  only  be  rightly  understood  by 
recognising  how  closely  its  spirit  is  intended  to  be 
that  of  the  Acts.  Its  history  is  always  that  of  a 
Church.  Acting  as  a  Church,  it  strove  to  conform 
to  the  Church  of  the  earliest  days.  In  spite  of 
Henry  VIII  and  his  wives  and  Queen  Elizabeth  and 
her  ministers,  the  recognition  of  this  fact  alone  gives 
a  theory  which  will  explain  the  formation  and  use, 
and  more  than  all  the  spirit,  of  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer.  This  was  no  new  thing,  merely  a  new 
version  of  old  things;  but  it  represented  the  effort 
to  test  the  whole  system  of  the  Church  by  the  touch- 
stone of  Scripture,  not  isolated  but  taken  in  its  his- 
torical setting. 

Yet  this  devotion  to  Scripture  as  ultimate  evi- 
dence for  the  origins  of  the  Christian  Church  did  not 
degenerate  into  Bibliolatry.  Christianity  is  the  re- 
ligion of  a  Person,  not  of  a  Book;  and  the  function 
of  the  Book  with  reference  to  the  Person  was  never 
lost  sight  of.  The  religion  is  the  religion  of  a 
Person,  perpetuated  in  a  Society  whose  title-deeds 
are  recorded  in  a  Book.  Book  and  Society  are  sub- 
ordinate to  the  Person;  and  it  is  the  Society  that 
keeps  and  expounds  the  Book.  The  Book  was  not 
regarded  as  a  miraculous  accident  unrelated  to  the 
historic  Christian  Society,  but  was  dealt  with  in  its 
context.  It  was  recognised  that  the  Church  was 
author  and  custodian  of  the  Christian  Scriptures, 


Anglican  Conservatism  45 

and  that  the  Church  in  the  age  which  produced  them 
is  the  rightful  interpreter  of  them.  Reference  to 
Scripture  meant  Scripture  as  interpreted  by  the 
early  Church. 

More  important  than  this  historical  use  of  Scrip- 
tural authority  is  the  first  of  Anglican  presup- 
positions, the  substantial  accuracy  of  the  New 
Testament  narrative  and  implications.  Belief  in  the 
Scriptures  as  ultimate  authority  for  the  Christian 
facts,  and  belief  in  them  as  in  a  unique  sense  a 
revelation  from  God,  constitutes  a  fixed  point  of  de- 
parture for  Anglican  development.  As  time  goes  on, 
views  may  change  as  to  the  meaning  of  details  in 
portions  of  Scripture,  and  as  to  the  meaning  and 
method  of  inspiration;  but  there  can  be  no  change 
in  the  recognition  of  the  Scriptures  as  in  a  special 
way  the  embodiment  of  truth  revealed  to  men  by 
God  Himself.  Anglicanism  cannot  break  away  from 
the  Scriptures  as  authority  for  its  beliefs  and  prac- 
tices without  ceasing  to  be  itself. 

2.  If  the  reformed  Church  of  England  intended 
to  be  ultra-conservative  in  practice,  and  was  essen- 
tially conservative  in  its  recognition  of  authority, 
it  was  also  conservative  in  doctrine.  Apostolic  prac- 
tice was  to  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  faith  of  the 
Gospel.  It  held,  and  it  holds,  to  the  original  doc- 
trine of  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God.  If 
Scripture  was  to  be  interpreted  historically  with 
reference  to  Church  institutions,  it  was  also  to  be 
taken  literally  with  reference  to  the  central  point 
in  its  teaching.  This  is  indicated  by  the  firm  re- 
tention of  the  ancient  Creeds. 


46  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

In  the  sixteenth  century  there  were  few  discus- 
sions concerning  Theology  proper.  Popes  and  re- 
formers alike  held  to  the  Theology  of  the  Scriptures 
and  Creeds;  and  Popes  and  Reformers  alike  burned 
for  heresy  those  who  denied  the  Divinity  of  Christ. 
Controversies  raged  about  questions  of  authority 
and  church-government,  and  about  the  nature  and 
use  of  Sacraments;  but  almost  none  in  the  early 
days  of  the  Reformation  questioned  the  Christian 
doctrine  of  God.  There  was  nothing  unusual  in  the 
Church  of  England's  holding  to  the  historic  Creeds, 
which  were  equally  accepted  as  matter  of  course  by 
Rome,  Wittenberg,  and  Geneva. 

But  there  are  two  ways  in  which  Anglican  hold 
on  the  Creeds  has  established  a  somewhat  differen- 
tiated position  in  more  recent  times :  ( 1 )  It  has  taken 
the  ancient  Creeds  as  theological  standards,  in 
preference  to  the  metaphysical  elaborations  of  the 
scholastic  theologians  of  the  Middle  Ages,  or  to  the 
legal  elaborations  of  the  equally  scholastic  theolo- 
gians of  the  Reformation.  This  has  resulted  in  a 
comparative  simplicity  in  theological  statement, 
which  is  in  close  conformity  with  the  statements  of 
the  writers  of  the  first  age.  (£)  It  has  committed 
itself  to  the  Theology  of  the  Creeds  in  such  a  way  as 
to  be  clearly  distinguished  from  professing  Chris- 
tians who  have  expressly,  or  implicitly,  abandoned 
definite  Christian  Theology. 

The  ancient  Creeds  were  intended  to  express,  and 
as  a  matter  of  fact  do  express,  in  the  language  of 
certain  periods,  the  faith  of  the  Gospels  concerning 
God  as  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ,  no  more  and  no  less. 


Anglican  Conservatism  47 

In  face  of  what  claimed  to  be  better  doctrines  of 
God  and  theories  of  Christ  than  those  of  the  Gospel, 
the  Church  said  in  effect :  "  We  hold  to  the  faith  of 
the  fathers.  We  take  our  Christology  and  our  The- 
ology direct  from  the  Apostles.  What  the  Gospels 
teach  we  still  hold;  and  we  summarise  our  belief  as 
follows."  Moreover,  as  against  those  who  would 
say,  "  We  are  willing  to  accept  certain  details  of 
the  Gospel,  such  as  portions  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount;  but  of  course  you  cannot  expect  us  to  be- 
lieve in  the  miraculous  Birth  and  the  Resurrection," 
the  Creeds  say :  "  Never  mind  the  details ;  but  hold 
to  the  great  facts.  We  commit  ourselves  to  the 
great  central  and  crucial  truths  of  the  Virgin  Birth, 
the  Death,  the  Resurrection,  the  Ascension,  Pente- 
cost. The  core  of  truth  is  there.  All  else  is 
subsidiary." 

The  Creeds  are  only  intelligible  when  we  refer  to 
the  intention  of  their  framers,  which  was  loyalty  to 
apostolic  presentation,  no  more  and  no  less,  succinct 
expression  of  the  doctrine  of  God,  implied  in  the 
Gospels,  and  more  clearly  formulated  by  St.  Paul 
and  St.  John.  To  hold  the  Creeds  meant  to  refuse 
to  abandon  the  Gospel  Theology  for  any  proposed 
substitute.  This  was  the  ancient  function  of  the 
historic  Creeds;  and  this  function  do  they  still  per- 
form. The  all-important  thing  is  their  intention 
to  be  loyal  to  the  New  Testament  teaching.  Their 
language  is  the  language  of  the  time  of  their  for- 
mulation; their  details  such  details  as  were  brought 
into  accidental  prominence  by  the  controversies  of 
particular  periods.  Language  and  arrangement 


48  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

might  be  improved  upon;  or  they  might  be  wholly 
superseded  by  the  language  of  another  age;  but  as 
the  thought  intended  is  that  of  the  Apostles  them- 
selves, to  abandon  them  without  providing  some  sub- 
stitute with  identical  meaning  would  be  to  abandon 
the  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament. 

In  the  course  of  time,  and  not  least  in  the  present 
day,  there  have  come  many  new  solicitations  to  aban- 
don Gospel  truth.  More  loudly  than  ever  before  has 
the  cry  been  raised  that  the  Gospel  is  obsolete,  and 
its  teaching  incredible,  if  not  impossible.  In  the 
wake  of  both  great  schools  of  Continental  Protes- 
tantism have  followed  open  and  secret  disbelief, 
grave  doubt,  and  widespread  indifference.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  though  not  of  theory,  the  Christol- 
ogy  of  the  Creeds  has  been  smothered  in  the  mass  of 
Protestant  metaphysics  dealing  with  justification  and 
predestination,  the  rejection  of  which  has  often  in- 
volved rejection  of  the  ancient  Theology  lying  behind 
it.  The  Anglican  Church  has  not  been  unaffected  by 
prevalent  infidelity  and  agnosticism,  and  efforts  have 
been  made,  though  made  in  vain,  to  loose  her  from 
her  traditional  moorings.  But  she  has  not  aban- 
doned the  Creeds,  and  in  fact  could  not  do  so  with- 
out ceasing  to  be  herself.  Among  the  many  com- 
peting forms  of  Christianity,  she  is  ranged  with 
those  who  still  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  as  Himself 
God,  and,  accepting  Him  as  Word  of  God  made 
flesh,  conceive  of  God  as  existing  in  threefold  man- 
ner, holding  to  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  as  the 
most  reasonable  clue  to  the  meaning  of  human  life 
and  of  the  universe.  She  stands  firm  for  the  belief 


Anglican  Conservatism  49 

that  the  central  thought  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  the  central  fact  of  the  world's  history,  is  noth- 
ing less  than  God's  Incarnation. 

She  maintains  the  threefold  Gospel,  which  exhibits 
the  Divine  Love.  As  against  dualism  in  any  form, 
she  holds  to  the  Gospel  of  Creation,  that  the  worlds 
came  into  being  by  an  act  of  God's  love,  of  which 
man  with  his  measure  of  freedom  is  the  last  and 
highest  illustration.  God  loved  and  created  the 
universe.  She  holds  also  to  the  Gospel  of  Redemp- 
tion, recognising  man's  actual  need  and  degradation 
and  the  one  remedy  conducive  to  salvation.  Man's 
misuse  of  freedom  did  not  involve  forfeiture  of  the 
Divine  providence  and  compassion.  "  God  so  loved 
the  world  that  He  gave  His  only-begotten  Son," 
who  "  humbled  Himself  even  to  the  death  of  the 
Cross."  God  loved  and  stooped  to  redeem.  She 
proclaims  also  the  Gospel  of  Sanctification,  that 
the  Divine  forces  set  in  action  by  the  coming  of  the 
Son  of  God  to  earth  are  still  operative;  and  that 
"  all  that  Jesus  began  both  to  do  and  to  teach  "  be- 
fore His  Resurrection  and  Ascension  is  continued 
for  those  who  draw  near  to  Him.  God  loves  and  still 
works.  Belief  in  God  the  Holy  Ghost  means,  prac- 
tically, belief  in  the  present  action  of  supernatural 
grace.  God  loving  always  and  working  always  is 
the  sum  and  substance  of  our  belief;  and  our  pro- 
fession of  this  belief  in  the  phraseology  of  classic 
formulae  is  one  method  of  witness  to  our  firm  convic- 
tion of  the  Godhead  of  "  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yes- 
terday, to-day,  and  forever." 

3.   The   doctrine    of   the   Incarnation,    that   God 


50  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

could  make  Himself  known  to  man  through  man's 
own  nature,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  that 
God  still  works  in  the  world  as  He  did  in  the  first 
days,  are  two  applications  of  the  same  principle, 
two  efforts  of  the  human  mind  to  express  its  appre- 
hension of  God's  presence  in  the  world,  its  conviction 
that  to  believe  that  God  has  intercourse  with  hu- 
manity is  not  only  reasonable  but  necessary,  if  we 
maintain  really  noble  views  both  of  God's  nature  and 
of  our  own.  Starting  with  the  assurance  that  God 
assumed  our  nature,  and  used  it  as  a  medium  for 
expressing  Divine  and  eternal  truth,  we  can  go  on 
to  believe  that  Divine  power  and  grace  can  still  be 
transmitted  to  men  who  in  faith  will  receive  it.  The 
mystical  faculty,  by  which  alone  it  is  possible  not 
to  comprehend,  but  to  feel,  the  truth  of  the  Incarna- 
tion, is  the  same  faculty  by  which  we  apprehend  the 
truth  about  Sacraments.  Anglicanism  applies  its 
Doctrine,  and  again  shows  its  conservatism,  by  its 
mysticism  1  in  maintaining  the  sacramental  principle 
as  it  was  maintained  by  the  ancient  Church.  This 
might  be  illustrated  by  pointing  out  the  substantial 
identity  between  Prayer  Book  teaching  and  that  of 

1  Mysticism.  Some  people  do  not  like  the  word  "  mystical," 
which  suggests  to  them  only  the  dreamy  and  unpractical;  but 
the  word  expresses  the  fundamental  truth  of  all  religion,  and 
must  be  used,  unless  it  can  be  replaced  by  some  substitute  of 
identical  meaning.  It  is  approximately  synonymous  with  "re- 
ligious," and  connotes  apprehension  (1)  of  the  spiritual  ele- 
ment in  man  himself,  and  (2)  of  the  eternal  context  of  all 
life.  Normally  developed  man  is  conscious  that  his  most  char- 
acteristic experiences  transcend  the  physical,  and  that  the  most 
reasonable  explanation  of  all  that  is  visible  is  that  it  consti- 


Anglican  Conservatism  51 

the  early  fathers  of  the  Church ;  but  it  will  be  more 
to  the  point  to  compare  Anglican  conservatism  in 
sacramental  doctrine  with  similar  conservatism  in 
another  quarter  during  Reformation  times. 

In  1529  Martin  Luther  had  a  conference  with 
Ulrich  Zwingli  at  Marburg.  They  were  discussing 
the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  with  a  view  to  agree- 
ment, which  might  serve  to  bring  together  the  two 
bodies  of  dissidents  from  the  Latin  Church,  the 
Protestants  and  the  Reformed,  of  which  they  were 
the  respective  leaders.  They  were  utterly  unable  to 
agree;  and  the  irreconcilable  difference  between  them 
is  an  illustration  not  only  of  a  difference  in  the  gen- 
eral tendencies  of  the  Saxon  Reformation  and  the 
Swiss  Reformation,  but  also  by  parable  of  the  differ- 
ence between  the  only  two  categories  of  sacramental 
teaching  which  it  is  generally  worth  while  to  con- 
sider :  namely,  those  who  believe  that  the  outward  and 
visible  and  material  can  become  a  means  whereby  we 
receive  what  is  inward  and  spiritual,  and  those  who 
do  not,  and  cannot,  believe  anything  of  the  sort. 
Luther,  full  of  evangelical  fervour,  felt  that  it 
wronged  the  love  of  God  to  seem  to  detract  anything 
from  the  literal  meaning  of  our  Lord's  words; 
Zwingli,  coldly  rational,  was  not  willing  to  concede 
anything  of  which  he  had  not  sensible  proof,  and  felt 
that  it  was  derogatory  to  the  Almightiness  of  God 

tutes  a  lesser  part  of  a  grander  invisible  whole.  The  mystical 
faculty  is  the  instinct  whereby  man  is  conscious  of  the  unseen 
and  the  Divine;  and  this  instinct  finds  its  supreme  satisfaction 
in  Christianity.  A  mystic  is  one  who  takes  account  of  higher 
things  that  are  and  of  highest  things  that  must  be. 


52  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

to  associate  His  special  power  with  anything  earthly. 
The  fundamental  difference  between  the  two  men, 
and  between  the  two  schools  of  thought  which  they 
represented,  appeared  in  their  basal  conceptions  of 
God.  To  Luther  He  was  pre-eminently  Love,  and 
in  consequence  no  depth  of  condescension  was  incon- 
ceivable ;  to  Zwingli  He  was  pre-eminently  Power  and 
Will,  and  to  assume  that  He  needed  to  employ  mate- 
rial means,  or  that  He  seemed  to  work  for  change  in 
the  condition  of  men,  seemed  to  conflict  with  the  idea 
of  His  all-sovereignty  and  the  irreversible  character 
of  His  eternal  decrees.  In  the  discussion,  Luther 
vehemently  insisted  on  the  reality  of  the  presence 
of  the  Body  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist,  and  Zwingli 
denied  it.  In  this  they  were  types  of  radically  dif- 
ferent classes  of  men. 

"  I  protest,"  said  Luther,  "  that  I  differ  from  my 
adversaries  with  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and  that  I  shall  always  differ  from  them. 
Christ  has  said,  '  This  is  My  Body.9  Let  them  show 
me  that  a  body  is  not  a  body.  I  reject  reason, 
common-sense,  carnal  arguments,  and  mathematical 
proofs.  God  is  above  mathematics.  We  have  the 
word  of  God ;  we  must  adore  it  and  perform  it.  ... 
I  do  not  ask  what  need  we  have  of  it;  but  I  see  it 
written,  *  Eat,  this  is  My  Body.9  We  must  therefore 
believe  and  do.  ...  In  the  Eucharist  the  mouth 
receives  the  Body  of  Christ,  and  the  soul  believes  in 
His  words.  .  .  .  '  This  is  My  Body.9  The  devil 
himself  shall  not  drive  me  from  that.  To  seek  to 
understand  it  is  to  fall  from  the  faith.  ...  I  know 
but  one  means  to  come  to  an  understanding.  Let 


Anglican  Conservatism  53 

our  adversaries  believe  as  we  do."  "  We  cannot," 
answered  the  Swiss.  "  Well  then,"  said  Luther,  "  I 
abandon  you  to  God's  judgment,  and  pray  that  He 
will  enlighten  you."  As  they  sat  on  opposite  sides 
of  a  table,  Luther  had  written  on  the  table-cloth  be- 
fore him,  Hoc  est  Corpus  Meum,  as  a  reminder  of 
the  one  thought  he  wished  to  have  in  mind.  When 
Zwingli  was  unaffected  by  his  arguments  or  his  fer- 
vour, he  defiantly  shook  the  table-cloth  in  his  face! 
In  accordance  with  Luther's  teaching,  the  Augsburg 
Confession  stated :  "  Of  the  Lord's  Supper  they 
teach  that  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  are  truly 
present,  and  are  distributed  to  those  who  partake 
of  the  Lord's  Supper;  and  they  disapprove  of  those 
who  teach  otherwise." 

In  the  stand  he  took  at  Marburg,  Luther  is  a  good 
illustration  of  the  conservative  attitude  in  regard 
to  sacramental  doctrine.  Similarly,  the  Church  of 
England  refused  to  abandon  sacramental  mysticism 
in  compliance  with  Swiss  demands.  It  set  out  upon 
its  work  after  the  Reformation  with  an  unchanged 
conviction  that  God  draws  near  to  strengthen  His 
people  in  the  Sacraments,  which  our  Lord  ordained 
for  His  Church,  and  that  to  believe  this  is  to  give 
proof  of  unfailing  confidence  in  our  Lord's  redeem- 
ing love.  For  the  purpose  of  this  paper  it  is  of 
more  importance  to  call  special  attention  to  this  one 
point  than  to  examine  in  detail  the  differences  be- 
tween the  sacramental  teaching  of  the  Prayer  Book 
and  that  of  mediaeval  formularies  which  it  super- 
seded. Yet  it  is  necessary  to  indicate  the  chief  ways 
in  which  the  Prayer  Book  aimed  at  reversion  to  the 


54  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

simpler  teaching  of  the  early  Church  as  distinct 
from  the  complexities  and  subtleties  of  scholastic 
doctrine. 

This  appears  first  in  the  separation  of  the  two 
great  Sacraments  generally  necessary  from  the  cate- 
gory of  seven  taught  by  the  Latin  Church.  The 
authority  of  Peter  Lombard,  Master  of  Sentences, 
had  gained  currency  for  the  idea  of  seven  Sacra- 
ments, which  is  traceable  to  the  eleventh  century. 
At  first,  those  who  accepted  the  mystical  number 
seven  were  not  agreed  as  to  which  seven  sacramental 
rites  the  list  should  include;  but  for  three  centuries 
prior  to  the  Reformation  theologians  had  taught 
the  seven  Sacraments  as  they  are  still  taught  in  the 
Roman  Church.  When  the  Church  of  England  con- 
fined its  emphasis  to  Baptism  and  Holy  Communion, 
it  did  so  because  of  a  wish  to  confine  itself  to  the 
clear  teaching  and  the  proportion  of  the  teaching 
of  the  New  Testament. 

There  is  a  second  great  difference  which  is  harder 
to  define.  The  current  theology  had  for  some  time 
been  disposed  to  speak  not  so  much  of  the  spiritual 
presence  of  our  Lord's  Body  and  Blood  in  the  Eu- 
charist as  of  the  presence  of  His  Person.  This 
change  of  language  led  to  change  in  the  central 
thought.  To  speak  of  the  presence  of  our  Lord's 
Body  and  Blood  suggests  at  once  that  the  reason  of 
the  presence  is  that  they  may  become  the  food  of 
the  faithful.  The  central  thought  is  that  of  Com- 
munion. To  speak  of  the  presence  of  His  Person 
in  the  sacramental  elements  is  to  use  language  which 
fits  in  better  with  the  idea  that  He  is  present  to  be 


Anglican  Conservatism  55 

offered  afresh  as  on  the  Cross.  The  central  thought 
is  that  of  vicarious  sacrifice.  While  belief  in  the 
mystical  presence  of  His  Body  and  Blood  as  spiritual 
Gifts  involves  belief  in  the  special  presence  of  Him- 
self as  Giver  of  those  Gifts,  especially  as  it  is  of 
Himself  that  He  gives,  this  is  a  different  thing  from 
the  identification  of  the  Gifts  with  the  Person  of  the 
Giver.  The  Church  of  England,  without  obscuring 
either  the  connection  of  the  Eucharist  with  the  "  one 
full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice  "  of  which  it  is 
"  a  perpetual  memory,"  or  the  fact  that  in  the  Eu- 
charist we  lift  up  our  hearts  unto  the  Lord,  who 
still  pleads  the  merits  of  that  sacrifice,  made  its 
express  teaching  centre  about  the  thought  of  thfi 
Eucharist's  being  our  spiritual  food,  and — to  use 
a  common  Reformation  phrase — "  turned  the  Mass 
into  a  Communion."  "  The  Mass  "  was  used  not 
merely  as  the  common  name  for  the  Eucharist,  but 
to  denote  that  method  of  using  it  which  seemed  to 
make  it  a  vicarious  act  of  the  priest,  in  which  nor- 
mally the  congregation  had  no  share  except  as  rev- 
erent spectators.  The  name  "  Holy  Communion  " 
is  intended  to  emphasise  that  the  primary  command 
at  the  Institution  was,  "  Take,  eat." 

The  statements  in  Anglican  formularies  concern- 
ing the  Sacraments  are  in  close  accord  with  the  lan- 

1  A  theological  student  once  said  to  me  that  he  considered 
the  Words  of  Institution  "less  Catholic"  than  the  definition 
of  the  Eucharist  adopted  by  the  Council  of  Trent!  There  are 
canons  and  canons  of  "  Catholicity,"  and  from  his  own  stand- 
point the  young  man  may  have  been  right.  He  would  have 
considered  it  more  "Catholic"  for  our  Lord,  when  He,  insti- 


56  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

guage  of  Scripture,  and  represent  a  reversion  to  the 
mode  of  statement  used  in  earlier  days.  They  are  in 
line  with  such  statements  as  these  which  come  to  us 
from  the  middle  of  the  second  century.  "  We  do 
not,"  writes  Justin  Martyr,  "  receive  [the  elements 
in  the  Communion]  as  common  bread  and  common 
drink;  but,  as  by  the  word  of  God  Jesus  Christ  our 
Saviour  became  incarnate,  and  had  both  flesh  and 
blood  for  our  salvation,  so  also  the  food  made 
Eucharist  by  word  of  prayer  from  Him,  food  by 
which  our  blobd  and  flesh  are  by  a  change  nour- 
ished, is  both  Flesh  and  Blood,  we  have  been  taught, 
of  that  incarnate  Jesus."  In  similar  words,  Irenseus 
writes :  "  For  as  bread  from  the  earth,  when  it  re- 
ceives the  invocation  of  God,  is  no  longer  common 
bread,  but  Eucharist,  consisting  of  two  things,  both 
an  earthly  and  a  heavenly,  so  also  our  bodies,  par- 
taking of  the  Eucharist,  are  no  longer  corruptible, 
but  have  the  hope  of  the  resurrection  to  eternity." 
This  is  only  a  slightly  different  way  of  saying  what 
the  Catechism  means  by  its  reference  to  "  outward 
and  visible  sign  "  as  "  a  means  whereby  we  receive  " 
"  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace."  It  is  in  accord 
with  both  Justin  Martyr,  Irenseus,  Luther,  and  the 
New  Testament,  that  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  what  was 
not  merely  a  clever  evasion  of  a  difficult  question,  but 

tuted  the  Eucharist,  to  have  taken  bread  and  to  have  said, 
"  This  is  I ;  adore  and  offer  afresh."  Whereas  what  He  did 
say  was,  "This  is  My  Body;  take,  eat."  To  make  the  thought 
of  Communion  central  is  merely  to  conform  to  the  Words  of 
Institution  and  to  the  comments  of  St.  John  and  St.  Paul. 
— F.  J.  K. 


Anglican  Conservatism  57 

was  also  a  statement  with  a  good  deal  of  depth,  ut- 
tered the  famous  epigram: 

"  Christ  was  the  Word  who  spake  it ; 
He  took  the  bread  and  brake  it ; 
And  what  His  word  did  make  It; 
That  I  believe  and  take  It."  * 

In  the  categories  of  sacramental  teaching,  the 
crucial  difference  lies  between  those  who  believe  in 

1  There  is  a  striking  passage  in  Professor  Harnack's  Thoughts 
on  Protestantism  (pp.  286,  289,  293.  English  Translation)  in 
which  he  endeavors  to  trace  to  its  beginnings  that  sacramental 
theology  which  in  his  view  represents  a  corruption  of  simple 
primitive  faith.  But  with  that  fearless  frankness  for  which 
he  is  noted,  he  admits  that  the  sacramental  theology  is  to  be 
found  in  the  earliest  evidence  we  have,  namely,  the  writings  of 
St.  Paul  and  St.  John.  "No  doubt  the  elements  of  water, 
bread,  and  wine  are  symbols,  and  the  scene  of  operations  is 
not  laid  in  externals;  still  the  symbols  do  actually  convey  to 
the  soul  all  that  they  signify.  Each  symbol  has  a  mysterious 
but  real  connection  with  the  fact  which  it  signifies.  .  .  .  The 
two  most  sublime  spiritualists  of  the  Church,  namely,  John 
and  Origen,  were  the  most  profound  exponents  of  the  myste- 
ries, while  the  great  Gnostic  theologians  linked  on  their  most 
abstract  theosophies  to  realistic  mysteries.  They  were  all  sac- 
ramental theologians.  Christ,  they  held,  had  connected,  and  in 
fact  identified,  the  benefits  He  brought  to  men  with  symbols, 
the  latter  being  the  channel  and  vehicle  of  the  former,  the  man 
who  participates  in  the  unction  of  the  holy  symbol  getting 
grace  thereby."  .  .  .  "The  Apostle  Paul  was  far  from  being 
a  sacramental  theologian,  yet  even  he  could  not  wholly  avoid 
these  mysteries,  as  is  plain  if  one  will  but  read  the  eleventh 
chapter  of  First  Corinthians,  and  observe  his  speculations  upon 
baptismal  immersion.  But  Paul  was  the  first  and  almost  the 
last  (Not  quite  the  last,  for  Marcion  and  his  disciples  do  not 


58  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

the  reality  of  grace  given  by  Sacraments  and  those 
who  deny  it.  There  may  be  differences  in  applica- 
tion of  the  sacramental  principle,  and  differences  in 
the  effort  to  explain  the  nature  and  method  of  the 
operation  of  what  is  after  all  incomprehensible  and 
inexplicable.  But  those  who  believe  in  the  Sacra- 
ments as  veritable  means  of  grace  are  so  close  to- 
gether by  fundamental  conviction  that  differences  in 
explanatory  language  count  for  comparatively  little. 
In  its  sacramental  teaching  the  Anglican  Church 
has  endeavoured  to  maintain  the  Apostolic  tradition, 
and  in  an  age  in  which  the  mystical  in  every  form 
is  widely,  though  not  universally,  disparaged,  aligns 
itself  with  those  who  still  hold  to  the  early  faith  that 
Sacraments  are  true  "  means  whereby  we  receive  " 
Divine  grace  as  well  as  sensible  "  pledges  to  assure 
us  thereof."  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave 

seem  to  have  been  sacramental  theologians  at  all.)  theologian 
of  the  early  Church,  in  whom  sacramental  theology  was  really 
held  in  check  by  clear  ideas  and  strictly  spiritual  considera- 
tions. After  him  all  the  floodgates  were  opened,  and  in  poured 
the  mysteries  with  their  lore.  In  Ignatius,  who  is  only  sixty 
years  later  than  Paul,  they  had  already  dragged  down  and 
engulfed  the  whole  body  of  intelligent  theology."  "  From  the 
beginning  it  was  not  so,  is  the  protest  that  will  be  entered. 
Perhaps.  But  one  must  go  far  back  to  find  that  beginning, 
so  far  back  that  this  extremely  brief  period  now  eludes  our 
search  entirely." 

That  is  to  say:  Those  who  cannot  believe  in  the  Incarnation 
of  God,  and  who  in  consequence  can  have  no  use  for  a  system 
which  claims  to  convey  supernatural  grace,  are  bound  to  be- 
lieve that  there  was  a  time  when  such  things  were  not  taught. 
But  all  the  evidence  that  there  is  (except  that  of  Marcion,  whc 
was  condemned  as  heretic)  teaches  the  miraculous  events  of 


Anglican  Conservatism  59 

His  only-begotten  Son,"  is  the  doctrine  of  the  In- 
carnation; God  so  loves  the  world  that  He  gives 
perpetually,  is  its  corollary  and  the  doctrine  of  the 
Sacraments. 

4.  It  seems  like  an  abrupt  descent  to  turn  from 
what  concerns  the  inmost  relations  of  souls  to  God 
to  consider  what  seems  to  be  merely  a  matter  of 
social  necessity  or  convenience,  the  Historic  Episco- 
pate or  the  Historic  Ministry.  And  if  this  minis- 
try of  the  Church  be  no  more  than  an  ecclesiastical 
arrangement  for  practical  utility,  it  has  no  right  to 
place  in  the  list  of  Christian  essentials.  No  form  of 
Church-government  can  claim  recognition  as  of  es- 
sential importance,  unless  it  can  be  connected  with 
our  Lord  Himself.  Unless  He  inaugurated  a  society 
in  which  government  of  some  sort  was  a  neces- 
sity, and  Himself  determined  the  principle  whereby 

Christ's  life,  and  that  His  disciples  came  to  believe  in  Him  as 
Divine;  and  that  the  rites  He  ordained  were  supposed  to  con- 
vey spiritual  blessings.  To  accept  the  evidence  is  to  believe 
this;  to  deny  this  is  to  throw  over  the  evidence.  Conservative 
Christianity  holds  to  these  first  teachers.  The  teaching  that 
the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  has  a  spiritual  meaning  similar  to 
the  physical  mystery  of  birth,  and  that  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Holy  Communion  has  a  spiritual  meaning  similar  to  the 
physical  mystery  of  taking  food,  comes  to  us  through  St.  John 
from  our  Lord  Himself.  St.  John  believed  it;  St.  Paul  be- 
lieved it;  the  Acts  indicate  that  the  Apostles  put  their  belief 
into  practice.  We  are  in  line  with  them  when  we  seek  not  to 
fathom  spiritual  mysteries,  but  to  believe  in  spiritual  mystery 
as  an  essential  part  of  human  life,  and  to  translate  the  mean- 
ing of  these  mysteries  in  terms  not  of  grammar,  nor  of  logic, 
but  to  compare  them  to  the  other  mysteries  which  go  to  make 
up  our  life. 


60  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

authority  was  to  be  exercised,  there  is  no  reason  for 
attaching  importance  to  any  special  form  of  or- 
ganisation, or  even  to  any  organisation  at  all.  There 
are  those  who  maintain  that  the  chief  corrupting 
force  in  the  Christian  Church  has  been  its  social 
organisation;  and  if  its  social  organisation  is  wholly 
independent  of  Christ,  they  are  undoubtedly  right. 

If  we  are  to  justify  the  action  of  our  Church  in 
giving  the  Historic  Episcopate  a  place  in  the  cate- 
gory of  Christian  essentials,  or  are  to  approve  the 
action  of  the  Church  of  England  and  of  our  own 
in  taking  pains  to  preserve  a  succession  of  Bishops 
deriving  descent  from  Bishops  of  the  pre-Reforma- 
tion  Church,  we  must  see  that  this  system  of  govern- 
ment forms  a  necessary  part  of  the  Church  inaugu- 
rated by  our  Lord,  and  that  the  principle  of  the 
ministry  corresponds  to  some  permanent  human  need. 
We  must  see  that  the  principle  of  Orders  is  im- 
portant as  a  test-case  and  illustration  of  the  Church- 
principle.  In  fact,  it  would  have  been  better  if  the 
Quadrilateral  had  specified  not  Historic  Episcopate, 
but  Historic  Church. 

The  line  of  thought  here  suggested  has  been  elabo- 
rated in  a  separate  paper  on  The  Principle  of  Or- 
ders. This  section  of  the  present  paper  has  been, 
therefore,  abridged.  It  will  suffice  to  call  attention 
to  three  points,  which  have  bearing  in  different  ways 
on  the  subject. 

(a)  The  principle  that  ministerial  authority  was 
derived  by  laying  on  of  hands  which  indicated  apos- 
tolic descent  seems  to  have  been  accepted  in  the  early 
Church.  It  is  only  by  doing  violence  to  such  testi- 


Anglican  Conservatism  61 

mony  as  we  possess  that  the  idea  can  be  read  out  of 
the  Christian  literature  of  the  first  two  centuries. 
When  this  is  done,  it  is  due  not  so  much  to  the  in- 
adequacy of  the  testimony  as  to  prior  conviction  that 
any  sacramental  theory  of  the  ministry  is  itself  in- 
credible. But  if  the  antecedent  possibility  be  ad- 
mitted, it  is  at  once  apparent  that  the  simplest  ex- 
planation of  one  aspect  of  the  history  of  the  early 
Church  is  that  there  was  substantial  basis  in  fact 
for  a  theory,  which,  at  any  rate  in  the  second  cen- 
tury, was  everywhere  accepted.  This  fact  of  general 
acceptance  is  not  by  itself  enough  to  establish  the 
fact  that  the  ministerial  theory  is  of  essential  im- 
portance; but  it  invests  it  with  a  claim  upon  our 
serious  consideration.  The  historic  proof,  which  is 
offered  for  the  fact,  if  fact  it  be,  is  not  demonstrative 
but  presumptive.  There  are  many  historical  facts 
which  can  only  be  known  as  necessary  hypotheses; 
and  this  fact — for  that  matter,  every  fact  of  this 
sort — is  one  of  them.  It  cannot  be  shown,  and  need 
not  be  shown,  what  were  the  actual  links  in  episcopal 
succession.  These  cannot  now  be  traced  farther 
than  the  seventh  century;  and  it  is  certain  that  the 
links  in  the  chain  for  the  first  three  centuries  will 
never  be  known.  We  only  know  actual  details  con- 
cerning the  consecration  of  any  given  Bishop,  when 
something  unusual  in  the  circumstances  occasioned 
special  comment  in  some  early  writer.  For  example, 
we  know  by  whom  hands  were  laid  on  St.  Chrysostom, 
because  the  circumstances  were  unusual;  we  have  no 
such  knowledge  of  St.  Athanasius,  in  whose  case 
there  was  nothing  unusual.  Yet  Athanasius'  claim 


62  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

to  be  regarded  by  posterity  as  a  Bishop  is  precisely 
as  good  as  Chrysostom's.  The  decisive  evidence  con- 
sists in  proof  of  the  acceptance  of  some  general 
principle,  not  in  detailed  knowledge  of  its  many  ap- 
plications. In  this  matter  of  episcopal  consecrations 
it  is  not  necessary  that  we  know  in  every  case,  or 
in  many  cases,  the  exact  personal  links.  It  is  enough, 
if  the  principle  be  established  that  right  to  minister 
in  the  Church  came  by  derivation  of  authority  from 
above.  Knowledge  of  principle,  not  detailed  knowl- 
edge of  applications  of  the  principle,  is  all  that  we 
require  as  evidence  in  any  such  case.  If  we  know 
that  certain  officers  were  appointed  in  a  certain  way, 
the  fact  that  any  given  man  served  in  the  office  is 
sufficient  proof  that  in  his  case  the  conditions  of 
appointment  were  complied  with.  For  example,  we 
have  no  details — or  very  few — concerning  the  due 
election  of  Roman  Senators  either  under  the  Repub- 
lic or  the  Empire ;  yet  we  know  what  from  time  to 
time  the  requirements  for  election  were.  The  mere 
fact  that  any  given  man  served,  and  was  recognised, 
as  Roman  Senator  is  sufficient  proof  that  he  was 
elected  in  due  form.  Similarly  of  Bishops.  If  we 
know  on  what  principle  they  were  appointed,  the 
mere  fact  that  any  man  acted,  and  was  recognised, 
as  Bishop  is  sufficient  proof  that  he  was  appointed 
according  to  rule.  Church  History  affords  sufficient 
evidence,  for  those  who  do  not  reject  the  fact  at- 
tested as  antecedently  improbable,  and  for  those  who 
do  not  demand  a  kind  of  proof  which  would  be  de- 
manded in  no  analogous  case,  that  the  principle, 
whereby  authority  to  minister  in  the  Christian 


Anglican  Conservatism  63 

Church  was  given,  was  that  of  derivation  of  author- 
ity from  above  along  a  line  of  official  descent  sup- 
posed to  lead  back  to  the  Apostles,  and  through  them 
to  our  Lord  Himself.  Such  a  succession  was  pos- 
sible. It  has  been  possible  for  the  last  twelve  cen- 
turies, as  may  be  demonstrated  in  great  detail;  it 
was  equally  possible  for  the  first  three  centuries,  if 
men  had  any  reason  for  holding  to  it.  The  historical 
evidence  is  sufficient  to  establish  as  a  necessary  hy- 
pothesis for  the  understanding  of  Christian  develop- 
ment, that  this  ministerial  succession  was  a  fact,  if 
our  presuppositions  will  allow  acceptance  of  any- 
thing of  the  sort.1 

(b)  It  would  seem  to  be  a  desirable  thing  that  the 
historic  episcopate  be  maintained  from  the  stand- 
point of  utility  in  the  interests  of  the  cause  of  Chris- 
tian unity.  Some  government  the  Church,  like  every 
society,  must  have ;  and  every  effort  to  dispense  with 
it  has  always  resulted  in  the  invention  of  some  new 
form.  Episcopacy  has  worked  fairly  well.  But  what 
recommends  it  in  the  interests  of  reunion  is  the  fact 
that,  irrespective  of  its  claims  to  antiquity,  it  is 
at  present  possessed,  in  some  form  or  other,  by  about 

1  This  sounds  very  much  like  begging  the  question  by  bald 
assertion.  The  one  thing  I  have  wished  briefly  to  indicate  here 
is  my  conviction,  merely  as  historical  student,  holding  no  brief 
for  any  theological  or  ecclesiastical  position,  that  in  this  mat- 
ter of  the  ministry  a  book  like  Gore's  Church  and  the  Ministry 
is  much  more  fair  in  its  weighing  of  evidence  than  many  books 
maintaining  different  theories  of  the  ministry,  where  the  de- 
termining factor  in  the  use  of  testimony  is  a  clearly  revealed 
preconception  of  the  utter  impossibility  of  any  application  of 
the  sacramental  principle. — F.  J.  K. 


64  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

nine-tenths  of  the  Christians  of  the  world.  It  seems 
to  offer  special  opportunities  for  corporate  reunion. 
This,  however,  is  an  argument  from  mere  expediency, 
and  cannot  justify  insistence  on  it,  if  there  be  noth- 
ing else  to  say  for  it. 

(c)  The  chief  argument  for  it,  however,  is  an 
argument  from  moral  necessity.  A  form  of  ordina- 
tion, expressive  of  the  authority  of  Christ  Himself, 
seems  to  be  needed  by  those  who  undertake  the  work 
of  the  ministry.  There  is  a  practical  need  for  a 
perpetual  apostolate;  and  if  so,  there  is  a  moral  ne- 
cessity for  a  perpetual  apostolic  commission.  We 
know  what  our  Lord  did  for  the  first  set  of  men  who 
were  sent  to  speak  and  work  in  His  Name.  "  As 
My  Father  hath  sent  Me,  even  so  send  I  you."  "  Ye 
have  not  chosen  Me,  but  I  have  chosen  you  and  or- 
dained you."  "  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost.  Whose- 
soever sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted;  and  whose- 
soever sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained."  That  sort 
of  thing  is  indispensable  to  those  who  are  to  go  forth 
as  ambassadors  of  Christ  and  stewards  of  the  mys- 
teries of  God.  If  in  these  days  men  are  effectively 
to  minister  the  Word  and  the  Sacraments,  they  are 
in  need  of  the  same  sort  of  authoritative  commission. 
Any  man  who  undertakes  the  work  of  the  ministry 
must  have  the  strength  and  comfort  of  a  commission 
from  the  Lord  whose  servant  he  is,  and  for  this 
assurance  he  must  have  some  outward  pledge  of  the 
reality  of  the  inward  call.  No  commission  traceable 
to  a  merely  human  source  has  any  special  value ;  the 
commission  only  has  value  if  it  seems  to  connect  us 
with  our  Lord  Himself.  If  the  ancient  belief,  that 


Anglican  Conservatism  65 

the  succession  of  Bishops  in  the  Church  gave  the 
ministry  in  each  generation  a  seal  and  pledge  of 
our  Lord's  mission  to  them,  and  an  assurance  of  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  their  work,  be  true,  it 
only  means  that  our  Lord  treats  His  latest  followers 
as  He  treated  those  of  the  first  generation;  that  He 
made  provision  for  men  by  recognising  the  de- 
pendence of  individuals  for  all  things  on  the  society, 
and  the  dependence  of  all  society  upon  orderly  gov- 
ernment. But  more  than  this,  it  means  for  the  men 
called  to  minister  in  His  Name,  men  of  unclean  lips 
and  wavering  wills,  as  we  all  are,  that  the  unclean 
lips  may  be  touched  by  a  coal  from  the  altar  of  God, 
so  that,  being  cleansed,  the  man  may  say  boldly  but 
humbly,  "  Here  am  I ;  send  me."  The  Church's 
theory  of  the  ministry  rightly  understood  is  con- 
ducive not  to  ministerial  arrogance,  but  to  minis- 
terial humility. 

The  four  essentials  go  together.  The  value  we 
attach  to  sacramental  ordination  to  ministerial  work 
will  depend  upon  apprehension  of  the  sacramental 
character  of  ministerial  work,  of  what  it  means  to 
minister  the  sacraments  of  grace  and  truth,  to  act 
and  to  speak  in  the  Name  and  Power  of  Christ.  The 
value  we  attach  to  ministerial  work  will  depend  in 
turn  on  apprehension  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Incar- 
nation of  the  Son  of  God.  If  we  have  the  Pauline 
and  Johannine  conviction  that  Christianity  means 
not  only  that  God  Himself  came  into  this  world  as 
the  man  Jesus  Christ,  but  that  also  the  incarnate 
Son  is  at  this  present  moment  continuing  by  His 
Apostles  all  that  He  began  on  earth  both  to  do  and 


66  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

to  teach;  if  we  believe  our  Lord's  present  existence 
and  activity,  we  can  believe  in  His  mystical,  super- 
natural Church;  and  if  we  believe  in  the  mystical 
Church  as  His  Body,  we  can  see  and  feel  that  all 
life  according  to  the  New  Testament  conception  is 
shot  with  Divine  fire,  and  is  mystical,  from  begin- 
ning to  end.  If  we  can  apprehend,  or  allow  our- 
selves to  be  apprehended  of,  Him  who  is  the  whole 
of  New  Testament  thought,  then  the  New  Testament 
in  all  its  aspects  will  become  more  and  more  real  to 
us.  If  we  believe  that  God  really  appeared  on  earth 
to  draw  near  to  man,  it  is  impossible  not  to  believe 
that  He  still  comes  close  to  every  soul;  and  we  can 
then  understand  the  strength  and  the  comfort  of 
all  the  sacramental  ordinances  of  the  Church.  The 
only  way  to  have  true  hold  on  the  meaning  of  ec- 
clesiastical system  is  to  be  filled  with  evangelical  fer- 
vour. The  burning  love  of  Christ  in  the  soul  of  the 
individual  believer  resulting  in  the  missionary  long- 
ing that  every  other  man  shall  draw  near  to  Him 
in  the  same  way,  gives  the  only  means  either  of 
knowing  or  of  spreading  "  the  faith  once  delivered 
to  the  saints."  It  also  enables  us  to  understand  the 
meaning  of  St.  John's  saying :  "  He  that  believeth 
on  the  Son  of  God  hath  the  witness  in  Himself:  he 
that  believeth  not  God  hath  made  Him  a  liar:  be- 
cause he  believeth  not  the  record  that  God  gave  of 
His  Son.  And  this  is  the  record,  that  God  hath  given 
us  eternal  life,  and  this  life  is  in  His  Son." 


m 

ANGLICAN  PROGRESSIVENESS 

ANGLICAN  Conservatism  never  aimed  at  mere  an- 
tiquarian revival.  Whatever  stress  was  laid  on  the 
necessity  of  harking  back  to  the  primitive  Church 
for  principles,  there  was  never  suggestion  of  harking 
back  to  the  primitive  Church  for  methods  of  appli- 
cation. No  one  ever  thought  of  trying  to  revive 
customs  determined  by  social  conditions  of  the  first 
century,  or  by  the  fact  that  the  Christian  Church 
was  in  early  days  exposed  to  persecution.  There  was 
recognition  of  the  need  of  adaptability  to  require- 
ments of  the  modern  world,  and  a  welcome  of  the 
changes  ushered  in  by  the  new  era.  Ultra-conserva- 
tism in  theory  went  hand  in  hand  with  utilitarian 
versatility  in  practice.  That  Anglican  conservatism 
was  linked  to  a  vital  principle  of  progressive  adapta- 
bility appears  clearly  if  it  be  contrasted  with  the  two 
chief  types  of  conservative  Christianity,  especially 
when  they  are  considered  with  reference  to  such 
things  as  all  types  of  conservative  Christianity  have 
in  common. 

Greek  conservatism,  for  example,  looks  back  to 
the  age  of  the  General  Councils  as  the  golden  age  of 
the  Church's  history;  and  aims  at  perpetuating  not 
only  the  principles,  but  also  the  spirit  and  atmos- 

67 


68  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

phere,  of  the  conciliar  period.  It  is  its  boast  that 
since  the  period  of  the  councils  there  has  been  no 
change;  and  on  the  whole  the  boast  is  justified  by 
facts.  In  the  Greek  Church  the  thought  and  cus- 
toms of  the  age  of  the  Emperor  Justinian  and  St. 
John  Damascene  have  been  projected  into  the  world 
of  to-day;  and  with  the  world  of  to-day  this  sixth- 
century  form  of  Christianity  shows  but  slight  dis- 
position to  come  to  terms.  It  is  largely  true  to  say 
that  the  Eastern  Orthodox  Christianity  presents  an 
example  of  arrested  development.  It  is  Christianity 
with  all  the  salient  marks  of  the  Christian- 
ity of  the  early  ages ;  but  it  is  distinctly  a 
Christianity  which  has  never  outgrown  a  form  and 
temper,  as  we  measure  things,  at  least  fourteen  cen- 
turies behind  the  times. 

Similarly,  Roman  Catholicism  endeavours  to  per- 
petuate the  form  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  a  bygone 
age.  In  most  of  its  phases,  intellectual  and  political, 
as  well  as  theological  and  ecclesiastical,  it  is  a  phe- 
nomenon of  the  thirteenth  century.  Pope  Innocent 
III  and  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  represent  the  last  terms 
of  its  development.  Formulated  scholasticism  has 
been  taken  as  the  last  word  in  Christian  thought,  and 
formulated  feudalism  as  the  ultimate  solution  of  the 
Church's  relations  to  human  society.  It  has  defi- 
antly refused  to  make  terms  with  the  modern  spirit, 
and  demands  of  the  modern  spirit  an  unconditional 
surrender  to  institutions  which  belong  chiefly  to  one 
country  in  the  later  Middle  Ages.  While  the  Greeks 
in  effect  demand  that  the  intellectual  apprehension 
of  Christianity  be  narrowed  to  the  conceptions  of 


Anglican  Progressiveness  69 

a  few  generations  of  not  very  remarkable  Bishops, 
the  Roman  Church  in  effect  demands  that  the  policy 
and  polity  of  the  Catholic  Church  be  restricted  by 
the  ecclesiastical  necessities  of  mediaeval  Italy. 

As  contrasted  with  these  types,  there  is  place  for 
one  which,  while  wholly  conservative  in  principle, 
should  endeavour  to  cultivate  a  truly  Catholic  tem- 
per by  developing  all  its  powers  of  adaptability  and 
assimilation.  It  cannot  be  maintained  that  such  a 
character  has  been  exemplified  by  the  Churches  of 
the  Anglican  Communion ;  yet  something  of  this  sort 
lies  at  the  very  core  of  Anglican  theory.  While 
there  is  no  ground  for  boasting,  the  ideal  ought  to 
act  as  a  stimulus  to  effort,  and  as  warning  in  its 
reminder  of  comparative  failure.  It  is  our  aim  to 
secure  identity  of  truth  combined  with  constant 
change  in  the  mode  of  its  expression,  identity  of 
principle  combined  with  constant  change  in  the  mode 
of  its  application. 

We  have  considered  the  history  of  the  English 
Reformation  in  reference  to  its  effort  to  retain  the 
essential  marks  of  the  one  Catholic  and  Apostolic 
Church;  we  have  still  to  consider  the  same  history 
in  relation  to  the  spirit  of  the  new  age,  whick  be- 
gins with  the  Reformation  period.  In  considering 
the  progressive  aspect  of  its  character,  it  cannot  be 
shown  that  there  has  been  steady  advance,  or  that 
there  has  been  advance  along  a  clearly  defined  line. 
The  changes  in  England  in  the  sixteenth  century 
involved  many  temporary,  and  a  few  permanent, 
losses.  There  has  been,  and  still  is,  great  danger 
that  Anglicanism  may  be  fettered  by  the  sixteenth- 


70  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

century  English  mould  in  which  it  was  first  cast;  or 
that,  especially  in  this  country,  it  may  confuse  cer- 
tain temporary  exigencies  with  the  permanent  condi- 
tions of  its  work..  Yet  close  scrutiny  of  the  history 
will  show  that  there  has  been  evolution  of  a  new 
religious  type,  and  that  there  has  been  frequent,  if 
not  constant,  effort  to  do  the  oldest  things  in  the  new- 
est kinds  of  ways.  There  has  been  constant  effort 
more  and  more  to  realise  the  meaning  of  religious 
freedom. 

This  adaptability  on  principle  may  be  illustrated 
by  reference  to  changes  in  (1)  the  religious  ideal, 
(£)  the  educational  ideal,  (3)  the  devotional  ideal, 
(4)  the  moral  ideal,  (5)  the  political  ideal. 

1.  The  Church  of  England  has  been  deeply  af- 
fected by  the  Evangelical  spirit,  which  in  modern 
times  owes  its  special  emphasis  to  the  influence  of 
the  Reformation  in  Germany.  The  direct  influence 
of  Martin  Luther  in  England  was  very  slight;  but 
eventually  the  force  of  his  positive  principles  made 
itself  felt  in  England  as  it  did  in  every  country  of 
Northern  Europe.  Luther  was  a  strange  combina- 
tion of  conflicting  principles,  always  intense  and 
usually  precipitate,  appearing  at  his  best  in  his 
earliest  years,  when  he  was  struggling  for  faith  and 
peace,  a  man  of  undoubted  genuineness  and  depth  of 
spirituality,  giving  himself  unreservedly  to  the  serv- 
ice of  God.  In  him  were  contradictory  elements  of 
impetuous  fervour  and  incautious  rationalism ;  but  it 
is  on  his  evangelical,  emotional  side  that  he  was  at 
his  best  and  his  strongest;  and  it  is  to  this  side  that 
he  owes  his  unique  importance.  The  keynote  to  all 


Anglican  Progressiveness  71 

his  teaching,  as  in  the  case  of  St.  Augustine,  was 
given  by  his  own  personal  religious  experience.  As 
a  monk  struggling  to  serve  God  in  such  a  way  as 
to  gain  peace,  he  was  directed  by  his  confessor  to 
meditate  on  St.  Paul's  teaching  of  justification  by 
faith.  In  this  he  found  the  lesson  he  needed  for 
himself;  and  this  he  proclaimed  as  the  one  lesson 
most  needed  by  the  religious  world  of  his  day.  He 
was  right.  The  great  danger  of  the  time  was  that 
religion  as  an  individual  thing  should  be  lost  sight 
of  in  the  identification  of  religion  with  the  worldly 
interests  of  ecclesiastical  corporations  which  had  be- 
come corrupt;  and  that  even  the  best  should  accept 
correct  and  beautiful  external  forms  as  substitutes 
for  the  inner  devotion  and  consecration  of  the  heart. 
The  burden  of  Luther's  message,  the  heart  of  all 
Evangelicalism,  was  the  necessity  of  personal  reli- 
gion, the  knowledge  that  the  heart  of  religion  lies 
in  the  union  of  the  individual  soul  with  God.  This 
is  the  secret  of  such  strength  as  Protestantism  has 
possessed,  and  lies  at  the  basis  also  of  the  best  de- 
velopments of  modern  Roman  Catholicism.  To  make 
this  felt  was  to  change  the  prevailing  religious  ideal 
and  to  claim  for  the  spirit  of  St.  Paul  a  place  in 
the  forefront  of  all  Christian  development. 

While  the  Church  of  England  was  not  directly 
influenced  by  Luther,  it  did  accept  in  a  general  way 
the  spirit  of  the  great  German  reformer;  and  in  its 
absorption  of  the  moderate  Puritans  showed  its  de- 
sire to  make  place  and  home  for  this  type  of  sturdy 
devotion  to  duty,  and  to  gain  the  strength  which 
was  displayed  in  an  especial  degree  by  the  children 


72  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

of  Swiss  Reform.  Moreover,  in  the  Evangelical  Re- 
vival of  the  eighteenth  century,  it  claimed  and  gained 
for  itself  a  greater  degree  of  evangelical  spirit.  This 
revival  laid,  in  an  exaggerated  but  permanently  ef- 
fective form,  sufficient  emphasis  on  the  need  of  in- 
dividual conversion,  and  on  the  spirit  of  missionary 
activity  as  the  inevitable  result  of  fervent  convic- 
tion; so  that  it  may  well  be  maintained  that  as  part 
of  its  heritage  the  Anglican  Church  possesses  that 
spirit  of  individual  piety  and  emotional  devotion 
which  is  the  characteristic  product  of  Reformation 
influence,  and  is  akin  to  one  side  of  the  teaching  of 
the  Apostle  St.  Paul. 

£.  The  English  Reformation  also  broadened  the 
scope  of  popular  education.  The  New  Learning 
exalted  new  standards  as  authoritative,  and  as 
against  the  Schoolmen  made  appeal  to  Scripture  and 
to  History.  In  the  discussions  of  the  period,  con- 
stant reference  was  made  to  the  Christian  sources; 
and  in  particular  there  was  fine  training  of  a  new 
generation  of  Biblical  and  historical  scholars  in  the 
University  of  Cambridge.  The  English  Reforma- 
tion, based  on  sound  learning,  resulted  in  the  en- 
couragement of  sound  learning.  This  result  was 
only  gradually  attained.  The  attacks  made  on 
schools  and  universities  by  Henry  VIII  and  Edward 
VI  brought  about  an  actual  decrease  in  the  amount 
of  education  diffused  among  the  masses  of  the  sub- 
jects of  those  kings ;  but  the  learning  they  fostered 
excelled  in  quality  that  which  it  superseded,  and  was 
associated  with  a  love  of  learning  for  its  own  sake, 
which  was  to  achieve  happy  results  in  future. 


Anglican  Progressiveness  73 

There  was  much  appeal  to  the  authority  of  Holy 
Scripture,  and  more  and  more  of  study  of  Holy 
Scripture.  In  the  Catechism,  Homilies,  and  Ex- 
hortations of  the  Prayer  Book  effort  was  made  to 
explain  the  meaning  of  the  Christian  faith  and  prac- 
tice by  constant  reference  to  God's  Holy  Word;  and 
this  set  a  fashion  generally  followed.  Moreover, 
the  deeper  study  of  the  history  of  the  early  Church 
taught  lessons  of  historical  perspective  which  had 
many  practical  applications. 

Besides  these  religious  studies,  there  was  all  the 
new  knowledge  of  different  kinds  which  came  at  the 
dawning  of  a  new  era  in  the  world's  history;  and 
to  all  new  ideas  and  new  conceptions  of  the  universe 
and  life  the  English  schools  gave  hearty  welcome. 
The  result  has  been  that  the  English  type  of  educa- 
tion, which  has  been  carried  all  over  the  world,  and 
has  reached  some  of  its  highest  developments  in  this 
country,  has  been  one  that  is  broad  in  scope  and 
usually  religious  in  character.  The  standards  of 
education  throughout  the  English-speaking  world 
have  always  been  of  the  highest;  and  this  fact  may 
be  connected,  even  in  those  phases  which  have  little 
or  no  direct  connection  with  the  English  Church, 
with  the  religious  movement  which  that  Church  in- 
augurated. It  is  the  Church  of  England  which  pro- 
duced the  English  Bible,  although  the  use  of  it  has 
been  as  wide  as  English-speaking  Christianity.  This 
one  instance  may  be  taken  as  an  illustration  of  the 
extent  of  the  intellectual  influences  which  the  Refor- 
mation in  England  set  in  motion. 


74  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

Connected  with  this  aspect  of  the  history  is  the 
fact  that  in  the  Church  of  England  there  has  been 
since  the  seventeenth  century  a  growing  spirit  of 
liberalism.  The  idea  of  religious  toleration  is  no- 
where more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  old. 
The  English  Church  was  long  in  learning  the  lesson, 
though  slightly  in  advance  of  most  of  its  rivals.  But 
in  recent  times  the  spirit  not  only  of  tolerance  for 
those  whose  beliefs  are  different,  but  also — which  is 
a  step  further  in  advance — of  appreciation,  has 
been  rapidly  growing.  This  spirit  has  been  increas- 
ingly powerful  during  the  last  fifty  years.  It  may 
be  ranked  as  a  principle  of  action,  that  the  Anglican 
Communion  has  studiously  developed  a  policy  of 
sympathetic  understanding  and  co-operation,  and 
has  aimed  at  appropriation  of  truth  and  usefulness 
as  presented  from  all  sides.  It  is  possible  to  trace 
from  the  earliest  period  of  the  Reformation  in 
England  the  working  of  this  instinct  of  assimi- 
lation. 

3.  The  changes  in  worship  aimed  at  giving  it  an 
intelligible  and  congregational  character.  The  use 
of  the  English  tongue  in  parts  of  the  old  services 
was  only  the  first  and  most  obvious  in  a  series  of 
changes  which  aimed  at  making  every  portion  of 
the  Church's  worship  intelligible  to  all  the  people. 
There  was  no  change  in  the  substance  or  structure 
of  the  Church's  chief  rites;  but  effort  was  made  to 
render  their  significance  obvious,  and  to  provide  for 
due  participation  on  the  part  of  all  the  congrega- 
tion. The  Prayer  Book  ideals,  as  contrasted  with 
what  they  superseded  in  the  matter  of  worship,  are 


Anglican  Progressiveness  75 

simplicity  and  heartiness.  The  meaning  and  aim  of 
its  Offices  are  sadly  missed,  if  their  congregational 
character  be  obscured.  As  contrasted  with  rites  in 
which  almost  everything  was  left  to  clergy  as  proxies 
for  the  congregation,  emphasis  was  given  to  the  con- 
ception of  the  priestly  congregation  joining  with 
its  official  functionary  in  the  discharge  of  the 
Church's  worship  with  heartiness  as  well  as  intelli- 
gence. This  special  principle  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land in  matters  liturgical  has  received  too  little  rec- 
ognition ;  but  it  is  a  sort  of  charter-principle  that 
she  stands  pledged  to  the  ideals  of  congregational 
worship  and  liturgical  flexibility. 

In  this  connection  reference  may  be  made  to  the 
Anglican  contributions  to  Christian  Hymnody.  No 
portion  of  the  Christian  Church  has  produced  more 
or  more  admirable  sacred  poetry  or  more  moving 
music  for  its  expression.  In  ecclesiastical  architec- 
ture, painting,  and  sculpture  the  Anglican  Church 
has  made  no  advance.  The  best  she  possesses  is 
either  inherited  or  copied.  But  her  schools  of 
hymn-writers  and  of  composers  of  sacred  music  have 
done  much  work  that  is  unique.  This  is  in  line  with 
the  special  practical  functions  to  which  reference 
has  just  been  made.  Others  have  made  worship  more 
impressive,  and  have  established  standards  of  dig- 
nity and  grandeur;  but  none  have  striven  harder  to 
make  it  intelligible  to  simple  minds  and  appealing 
to  simple  consciences. 

4.  More  important  than  these  changes  in  some 
ways  was  a  change  in  moral  ideals.  The  most  strik- 
ing illustration  of  this  appears  in  the  suppression 


76  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

of  the  English  monasteries.  On  the  part  of  King 
Henry  VIII  this  suppression  was  an  act  of  unscrupu- 
lous plunder.  The  history  of  it  is  a  monotonous 
record  of  iniquities;  it  stands  as  one  of  the  great 
brazen-faced  hypocrisies  of  all  history.  Yet  the  in- 
iquity lay  not  in  the  suppression,  but  in  the  method 
of  its  accomplishment.  The  significant  fact  is  that 
the  suppression  was  acquiesced  in  by  the  English 
nation  as  a  whole,  which  has  never  seen  fit  to  revive 
the  monastic  system  in  its  old  form,  when  revival 
was  possible.  Men's  blood  boiled  at  the  measures  of 
injustice  meted  out  to  the  unfortunate  monks,  whom 
they  knew  not  to  be  such  monsters  as  were  described 
by  those  who  wished  to  pillage  their  property;  but 
there  was  a  general  feeling  that  the  monastic  insti- 
tutions were  becoming  obsolete.  The  English-speak- 
ing world  no  longer  accepts  the  monastic  ideal, 
namely,  that  professional  asceticism  represents  the 
highest  form  of  Christian  perfection.  While  the 
ascetic  principle  has  its  place  in  all  Christian  life, 
there  is  no  longer  the  belief  among  us  that  the  best 
men  and  women  must  immure  themselves  as  monks 
and  nuns.  We  recognise  that  the  monastic  life  is 
preferable  for  a  few,  and  that  for  some  it  affords 
special  opportunities  of  service;  but  it  is  regarded 
as  exceptional  rather  than  as  normal,  rather  as  an 
occasional  necessity  than  as  something  ordinarily, 
or  even  often,  desirable.  Its  special  efficacy  has  been 
finely  illustrated  by  the  religious  orders  of  the 
Anglican  Church  formed  in  recent  years;  but  not 
even  in  the  religious  orders  themselves  has  there 
been  a  revival  of  the  once  prevalent  idea  that  the 


Anglican  Progressiveness  77 

highest  morality  can  only  be  developed  in  monastic 
seclusion. 

Before  the  Reformation  the  monastic  ideal  was 
everywhere  supreme.  The  monastic  life  was  par 
excellence  the  "  religious  "  life ;  and,  after  Gregory 
VII,  celibacy  and  a  certain  amount  of  "  regularity  " 
was  required  even  of  "  secular  "  clergy.  The  Eng- 
lish Reformation  abolished  monks  and  nuns,  and  per- 
mitted the  clergy  to  marry.  This  meant  a  great 
change  in  old  conceptions.  The  ideal  Christian  per- 
fection was  looked  for  not  in  monastic,  but  in  do- 
mestic, life.  The  Christian  family  was  regarded  as 
the  normal  school  for  training  in  piety.  Opposi- 
tion to  monasticism  was  due  partly  to  worldly  dis- 
like of  unworldly  ideals ;  but  that  did  not  constitute 
its  chief  ground.  There  was  a  general  conviction 
that  the  monasteries  had  outlived  their  special  use- 
fulness ;  and  also  a  feeling  that  Christian  influence 
could  best  be  exerted  in  the  midst  of  society,  rather 
than  by  holding  aloof  from  it.  It  was  felt  that 
life  in  the  world,  though  not  of  it,  afforded  the  best 
means  of  spreading  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The 
change  in  ideal  was  intended  to  emphasise  the  essen- 
tial holiness  of  family  life  and  society  life,  and  to 
place  the  Church  and  its  officers  in  a  position  of  van- 
tage by  putting  them  more  closely  in  touch  with 
those  whom  they  were  pledged  to  serve.  A  concep- 
tion of  ecclesiastical  transcendence  was  succeeded  by 
a  conception  of  ecclesiastical  immanence.  It  is  not 
for  a  moment  to  be  supposed  that  ideals  and  mo- 
tives such  as  these  actuated  King  Henry  or  his  tools 
in  suppressing  monasteries.  But  the  people  of  Eng- 


78  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

land  allowed  the  abolition  of  the  monastic  system, 
and  eventually  adopted  such  principles  as  gave  theo- 
retical justification. 

With  the  change  in  the  conception  of  what  con- 
stituted the  specifically  religious  life  came  change 
in  the  conception  of  the  scope  of  the  Church's  activi- 
ties. More  and  more  was  the  Church  to  concern  it- 
self with  social  questions  of  every  sort,  not  as  ex- 
ternal critic  and  law-giver,  but  as  sympathetic 
interpreter  of  popular  aspirations,  and  as  vitally 
interested  sharer  in  general  interests.  It  is  a  striking 
feature  in  modern  Anglican  history  that  no  class 
of  priests  or  ministers  in  any  part  of  the  Christian 
world  have  been  more  effective  men  of  affairs  than  its 
clergy,  or  more  able  to  bring  the  Church's  influence 
to  bear  on  many  questions  of  practical  importance. 
This  widening  of  the  scope  of  religious  and  ecclesi- 
astical activities  is  a  direct  result  of  the  change  in 
ideal,  which  is  less  correctly  described  as  a  secu- 
larising of  the  religious  than  as  a  consecrating  of 
the  secular.  The  modern  interest  of  the  Church  in 
all  educational,  economic,  political,  and  national,  as 
well  as  in  specifically  theological  and  ethical,  ques- 
tions may  be  traced  to  the  same  cause. 

5.  The  Reformation  in  general  represented  a  re- 
volt of  the  individual  conscience  from  a  social 
tyranny ;  and  in  all  its  phases  it  endeavoured  to  safe- 
guard individual  right.  Akin  to  this  was  the  effort 
made  to  safeguard  the  rights  of  the  larger  indi- 
vidual, the  nation.  Germany,  following  Luther's 
lead,  had  been  patriotically  zealous  to  throw  off 
Italian  fetters ;  England,  accepting  Henry  VIII  at 


Anglican  Progressiveness  79 

his  own  valuation,  loyally  supported  his  effort  to 
vindicate  national  rights;  Scotland,  following  John 
Knox,  threw  off  the  religious  yoke  of  Rome,  and, 
following  the  Fathers  of  the  Covenant,  refused  the 
religious  yoke  of  England.  Religion  and  patriotism 
were  blended,  if  not  identified.  One  great  reason 
for  the  spread  of  reforming  tendencies  in  England 
was  the  belief  that  they  were  pre-eminently  Eng- 
lish; and  the  most  obvious  limitation  of  the  move- 
ment was  its  tendency  to  be  merely  and  solely 
English.  Yet  proper  regard  for  the  national  prin- 
ciple ought  to  lead  on  to  conceptions  broader  still. 
National  rights  demand  recognition  and  protection; 
and  it  is  only  through  sense  of  the  meaning  of  the 
national  that  we  can  rise  to  the  meaning  of  the  in- 
ternational. If  the  national  point  of  view  be  rightly 
held,  it  represents  a  stage  on  the  way  to  conceptions 
as  wide  in  scope  as  humanity.  The  superficial  his- 
tory of  the  English  Reformation  would  indicate  only 
that  the  selfish  interests  of  the  Italian  Curia  in  sub- 
jugating the  Church  had  been  replaced  by  equally 
selfish  interests  of  the  English  monarchy.  No  Pope 
made  more  absolute  claims  to  supremacy  than  were 
sometimes  made  for  the  English  Tudors ;  while  under 
the  Stuarts  devotion  to  the  reigning  house  was  iden- 
tified with  "  the  doctrine  of  the  Cross."  But  there 
is  in  Anglican  theory  something  which  has  held  the 
national  in  due  subordination  to  Catholic  concep- 
tions. This  has  been  shown  by  the  successful  ac- 
tivity of  the  English  Church  system  in  those  por- 
tions of  the  British  Empire  in  which  it  is  virtually 
independent  of  the  Crown  and  Parliament,  and  also 


\ 


80  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

in  the  American  Republic.  Cultivation  of  the  na- 
tional spirit  and  the  development  of  national  char- 
acter are  signs  of  something  in  Anglicanism.  The 
influence  of  our  own  Church  in  fostering  the  high- 
est type  of  Americanism  is  an  example  of  this.  The 
Reformation  stimulus  to  national  aspiration  must  be 
regarded  as  a  distinct,  but  not  unmixed,  blessing; 
while,  nevertheless,  it  is  necessary  to  be  regarded  as 
but  a  step  in  advance,  rather  than  as  the  limit  of 
progress. 

It  is  curious  to  trace  the  developments  under  dif- 
ferent guises  of  Anglican  Royal  Supremacy.  When 
Royal  Supremacy  was  substituted  for  Papal,  it  was 
assumed  that  the  Church  needed  a  master,  and  that 
the  clergy  needed  lay-control.  There  was  the  more 
insistence  that  clergy  were  amenable  to  law,  from  the 
fact  that  formerly  they  had  claimed  exemption  from 
certain  obligations  resting  upon  other  citizens.  In 
the  reaction  they  were  exposed  to  special  taxation 
and  some  persecution.  Emphasis  was  given  to  the 
fact  that  ultimate  authority  was  executed  by  the 
Crown,  or  by  laymen  acting  as  the  Crown's  repre- 
sentatives. The  Royal  Supremacy  established  by 
Henry  VIII  was  translated  during  the  reign  of  his 
son  into  the  supremacy  of  a  Privy  Council,  and  then 
into  the  modified  supremacy  of  two  Queens  of  dif- 
ferent tendencies ;  while  under  the  Stuarts  the  claims 
made  for  the  Crown  were  greater  in  language  than 
had  been  made  under  the  Tudors.  When  monarchy 
was  overthrown,  the  supremacy  over  the  Church  was 
assumed  by  Parliament;  and  with  Parliament  it  has 
largely  rested  since.  In  the  present  constitutional 


Anglican  Progressiveness  81 

monarchy,  the  supremacy  is  largely  exercised  by  the 
Prime  Minister,  with  the  result  that  the  higher 
Church-appointments  depend  upon  the  result  of  po- 
litical elections.  At  the  present  moment  the  Church 
of  England  cannot  legislate  for  herself  except 
through  a  Parliament  only  one  member  of  which 
is  bound  to  be  a  Churchman;  and  Bishops  may  be 
chosen,  as  has  happened  in  the  past,  by  men  of  no 
religious  beliefs  whatever.  The  question  may  well 
be  raised  whether  the  subjection  of  the  English 
Church  to  King  and  Parliament  is  so  great  an  im- 
provement upon  subjection  to  the  Pope,  after  all. 

This  question  does  not  have  direct  practical  bear- 
ings for  ourselves.  Our  Church  is  free  to  act  for 
itself,  as  the  mother  Church  of  England  has  not  been 
since  the  earliest  period  of  her  history.  Yet  Royal 
Supremacy  is  not  wholly  absent  from  the  American 
Church.  When  royal  authority  was  superseded  in 
America  by  the  authority  of  popular  assemblies, 
there  was  apparently  the  feeling  that  such  authority 
over  the  Church  as  had  been  exercised  by  the  Crown 
should  now  be  exercised  by  duly  elected  conventions. 
The  conventions,  it  is  true,  were  to  consist  of 
Churchmen;  but  there  has  sometimes  been  an  inde- 
fensible democratic  supremacy,  when  supreme  defer- 
ence has  been  paid  to  conventions  as  such,  without 
reference  to  the  fitness  of  their  constituent  members 
to  pass  judgment  upon  difficult  religious  and  ecclesi- 
astical questions.  Royal  Supremacy  is  only  de- 
fensible on  the  theory  that  the  King  in  governing  the 
Church  is — to  use  a  phrase  of  Dr.  Moberly's — "  a 
Churchman  acting  Churchmanly."  The  reference  of 


82  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

Church  questions  to  tribunals  in  which  the  laity  con- 
stitute the  predominant  influence  is  only  defensible 
upon  the  same  supposition.  When  in  the  dearth  of 
Churchmen  the  management  of  affairs  which  have 
a  spiritual  bearing  is  entrusted  to  Vestrymen  and 
others  who  are  not  communicants,  there  is  a  revival 
under  democratic  form  of  that  tyranny  over  the 
Church  which  must  trace  its  historical  pedigree  to 
King  Henry  VIII  and  the  Popes ! 

But  if  to  this  source  we  may  trace  a  phenomenon 
among  ourselves  which  indicates  restriction  upon  the 
liberty  of  a  spiritual  society,  we  may  trace  to  the 
same  source  the  restoration  of  the  laity  to  their 
rightful  place  of  share  in  responsibility  for  the  whole 
of  the  Church's  work.  The  Reformation  rightly 
insisted  that  there  is  no  difference  in  character, 
though  there  be  in  function,  between  the  clergy  and 
the  laity.  From  this  some  have  inferred  a  denial  of 
the  spiritual  character  of  the  clergy  and  of  the 
society  in  which  they  are  officers.  Quite  the  con- 
trary is  true.  The  proper  inference  is  that  the 
spiritual  function  of  the  clergy  is  indication  of  the 
spiritual  character  of  the  laity,  who  are  equally  mem- 
bers of  the  mystical  Body  of  Christ.  One  of  the 
chief  lessons  of  Anglican  history  is  the  importance 
of  recognising  the  spiritual  character  and  responsi- 
bility of  the  Christian  layman. 

The  chief  application  of  the  principle  of  adapta- 
bility, and  the  crowning  combination  of  all  progres- 
sive tendencies,  is  to  be  found  in  the  missionary  work 
of  the  Anglican  Churches.  Other  conservative  Chris- 
tians have  shown  equal  readiness  for  self-sacrifice  in 


Anglican  Progressiveness  83 

the  missionary  cause;  other  progressive  Christians 
have  shown  equal  desire  to  keep  pace  with  modern 
ways ;  but  none  have  excelled,  if  any  have  equalled, 
the  missionaries  of  the  Anglican  Communion  in  abil- 
ity to  translate  the  ancient  faith  into  intelligible 
terms  of  life,  as  known  to  peoples  newly  won  for 
Christ.  There  has  been  not  only  wholesome  diversity 
of  methods  in  missionary  work,  but  also  an  exhibi- 
tion of  the  secret  of  all  deepest  influence,  "  pene- 
trative imagination,"  which  can  apprehend  the 
"  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil "  in  those  whom  it 
wishes  to  help.  There  has  been  a  just  appreciation 
of  the  "  good  in  everything,"  which  Christianity 
seeks  to  explain  and  develop,  and  appreciation  of 
what  Christianity  can  itself  gain  from  newly 
converted  nations.  There  has  been  a  useful  some- 
thing corresponding  to  St.  Paul's  "  Not  as  though 
I  had  already  attained,  either  were  already  made  per- 
fect: but  I  follow  after,  if  that  I  may  apprehend 
that  for  which  I  am  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus." 
It  is  one  mark  of  the  progressive  spirit  that  there 
should  be  the  humility  of  open-mindedness,  not  only 
in  Christians  as  individuals,  but  also  in  Christians  as 
Churches.  There  can  be  no  growth  without  con- 
sciousness of  imperfection. 

The  Anglican  Church  has  never  claimed  to  be  in- 
fallible. Those  who  seek  short  and  easy  solutions 
of  all  problems  by  one  act  of  surrender  to  infallible 
authority  can  never  be  wholly  satisfied  with  her.  In 
the  sixteenth  century  men  might  choose  the  infalli- 
bility of  Rome  or  the  more  confident  infallibility 
of  Geneva;  and  many  were  repelled  by  the  hesitancy 


84  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

of  the  Church  of  England.  Something  similar  has 
always  been  true.  Our  Church  has  faults ;  and  she 
sometimes  has  grace  to  own  them:  there  are  many 
things  she  does  not  know,  and  she  sometimes  admits 
it.  The  modesty  of  her  claims  may  suffer  by  con- 
trast with  those  of  powers  claiming  to  be  infallible 
and  impeccable;  but  it  has  the  advantage  of  keep- 
ing close  to  truth  and  to  necessary  conditions  of 
human  life.  Truth  has  always  been  the  lodestar  of 
Teutonic  peoples,  and  it  ought  to  dominate  every  de- 
velopment of  Teutonic  religion.  This  devotion  forms 
part  of  our  religious  heritage  and  ought  to  char- 
acterise every  feature  of  our  work. 

The  history  of  the  Church  is  replete  with  warnings 
that  the  Word  of  God  may  be  made  of  none  effect 
by  the  traditions  of  men,  if  traditions  be  not  kept 
true  and  pure  by  constant  testing  by  "  the  word  and 
the  testimony."  Any  form  of  Christianity  which 
shall  succeed  in  keeping  the  tradition  in  perpetual 
touch  with  the  testimony  will  give  to  the  world  ideal 
Christianity  of  a  sort  as  yet  but  imperfectly  realised. 
It  is  desirable  that  constitutional  conservatism  be 
combined  with  constitutional  progressiveness ;  but  it 
must  be  recognised  that  both  are  thereby  constitu- 
tionally limited.  The  conservatism  must  not  become 
a  mere  mummy  of  religion ;  nor  must  progress  mean- 
departure  from  primitive  bases.  Advance  there  may 
be  in  every  direction;  but  widening  of  circumference 
must  mean  no  change  of  centre,  and  advance  must 
not  mean  breaking  away  from  the  centre.  Anglican 
progressiveness  is  confined  to  a  New  Testament  base. 


Anglican  Progressiveness  85 

It  is  perfectly  conceivable  that  this  Anglicanism 
should  cease  to  exist.  From  present  indications  it 
appears  that  a  number  of  the  religious  systems  and 
ecclesiastical  institutions,  which  originated  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  are  passing  out  of  existence. 
Strict  Lutheranism  has  almost  disappeared  from 
Germany,  though  it  survives  in  certain  portions  of 
America ;  strict  Calvinism  is  in  all  its  former  strong- 
holds apparently  evanescent.  More  and  more  does 
it  seem  likely  that  the  alignment  in  future  is  to  place 
in  one  camp  the  maintainers  of  the  historic  faith  of 
the  New  Testament  over  against  various  forms  of 
Unitarianism,  which  are  likely  more  and  more  ex- 
plicitly to  abandon  the  New  Testament,  recognising 
that  the  miraculous  element  is  everywhere  interwoven 
in  its  tissue.  If  this  be  true,  the  future  of  Chris- 
tianity will  lie  with  that  Communion  which  can  best 
vindicate  its  claim  to  represent  the  religion  of  the 
New  Testament,  that  is,  Christianity  according  to 
the  apostolic  norm.  Anglicanism  is  one  of  the  forms 
of  Christianity  which  claim  to  perpetuate  this.  If 
its  claim  be  not  valid,  it  had  best  make  way  for  a 
Christianity  which  can  better  vindicate  the  claim, 
and  the  sooner  the  better.  But  so  long  as  it  does 
exist,  and  so  long  as  it  can  give  any  reasonable  justi- 
fication for  its  existence,  it  must  bear  consistent  wit- 
ness to  the  Scriptural  principles  of  the  Incarnation 
and  the  Church.  Its  characteristic  contribution  to 
Christian  development,  however  that  contribution  be 
combined  with  others,  must  be  the  instinct  of  giving 
the  ancient  spirit  a  truly  modern  expression.  This 
is  the  ideal  which  challenges  us  to  stricter  and  sterner 


86  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

effort  than  we  have  hitherto  shown  to  give  it  ap- 
proximate realisation. 

A  broad  outlook  over  the  Christian  world  at  the 
present  day  would  seem  to  indicate  that  there  is 
place  and  demand  for  that  special  emphasis  and  those 
special  activities  which,  according  to  our  history, 
it  seems  the  privilege  of  Anglicanism  to  give.  It 
cannot  be  claimed  that  her  mission  has  been  hitherto 
discharged  with  unusual  or  brilliant  success.  Yet 
it  can  be  claimed  that,  in  spite  of  flagrant  sins  of 
omission,  her  history  has  displayed  manifest  tokens 
of  the  workings  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  She  has 
failed  in  her  consistent  witness  to,  and  use  of,  sacra- 
mental force,  and  in  adaptability  to  the  needs  of 
some  of  the  humbler  classes  of  society.  She  has  com- 
mitted sundry  secular  and  aristocratic  sins,  and  has 
been  shamefully  proud  of  them.  On  the  other  hand, 
she  has  displayed  distinguished  excellence  in  her  con- 
secration of  scholarship  to  Scriptural  exposition, 
in  her  liturgical  provision  for  the  educated,  and 
chiefly  in  far-sighted  provision  for  missionary  work. 
She  has  possessed  certain  learned  virtues,  a  fair 
amount  of  eminent  respectability  and  practical 
common-sense;  and  yet  has  missed  certain  finer  forms 
of  Christian  character,  and,  in  spite  of  claims  to 
adaptability,  has  failed  to  make  proper  appeal  to 
men  of  all  tastes  and  temperaments. 

The  Churches  of  the  Anglican  Communion  have 
special  opportunities  for  advance  in  those  countries 
to  which  they  have  special  mission,  and  special  op- 
portunities also  to  act  as  an  educational  and  civilis- 
ing influence  for  the  whole  world.  In  the  British 


Anglican  Progressiveness  87 

Empire  there  are  opportunities  for  world-wide  ac- 
tivities based  on  world- wide  views,  which  ought  to 
produce  the  most  intelligent  type  of  modern  Catholi- 
cism. In  the  United  States  our  own  Church  has  spe- 
cial opportunities  of  learning  the  lesson  of  adapta- 
bility from  her  closeness  to  men  representing  all 
types  and  temperaments  from  all  nations  of  the 
earth.  In  no  place  is  there  so  great  need  for  firm- 
ness in  conviction  and  flexibility  in  practice  as  in 
a  nation  composed  of  so  many  elements  as  the  Amer- 
ican; in  no  place  is  there  greater  opportunity  for 
working  out  the  real  meaning  of  Catholicity.1  The 
Church's  opportunity  constitutes  a  greater  justifica- 
tion than  its  actual  achievements ;  yet,  fairly  judged, 
it  can  stand  the  test  of  comparison  with  the  most 
powerful  religious  influences  of  modern  times.  Its 
consciousness  of  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
working  in  and  through  it  should  make  it  fearless; 
while  the  memory  of  sins  and  omissions  should  make 

1  The  terms  "  Catholic "  and  "  Catholicity "  as  applied  to 
conceptions  of  Christianity  are  ambiguous  terms.  "  Catholic  " 
is  used  by  some  people  with  the  intention  of  meaning  every- 
thing in  general;  whereas,  all  they  seem  to  succeed  in  mean- 
ing is  nothing  in  particular.  It  is  used  by  others  with  ref- 
erence to  tiny  bits  of  things  in  particular,  but  in  such  a  way 
as  never  to  arrive  at  anything  in  general!  Neither  vague  ex- 
pansiveness  nor  microscopic  particularity  rightly  defines  it ;  yet 
both  have  a  share  in  its  connotation.  The  first  class  of  people 
wish  to  use  it  of  a  philosophy  universal  in  its  scope;  the  sec- 
ond, of  certain  details,  which  are  mystical  in  significance.  Both 
universality  and  mysticism  are  ingredients  of  Catholicity  which 
must  be  taken  as  synonymous  with  primitive  and  Christian 
conceptions,  containing  broadly  philosophical  and  genuinely 
spiritual  ideas,  which  other  systems  lack.  These  have  their 


88  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

and  keep  it  humble.  The  thought  of  ideals  should 
not  make  us  boastful.  They  ought  to  encourage  by 
their  intrinsic  nobility;  but  they  ought  also  to  hu- 
miliate by  their  reminder  of  failure.  If  our  work 
be  at  all  effective,  it  will  show  something  of  the  spirit 
of  St.  Paul,  whom  Anglicans  have  wished  to  appro- 
priate as  being  in  a  special  sense  their  patron  saint. 
And  it  may  be  said  that  no  other  form  of  conserva- 
tive Christianity  is  so  ambitiously  Pauline,  and  that 
no  modern  form  of  Christianity  is  more  conscien- 
tious in  its  effort  to  be  loyal  to  all  sides  of  the 
Pauline  doctrine.  Like  the  great  Apostle,  our  Com- 
munion endeavours  to  preach  the  one  Gospel,  which 
came  "  by  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ " ;  and  like  him 
it  wishes  to  be  "  made  all  things  to  all  men,  that  by 
all  means  it  might  save  some."  But  there  is  need 
of  heeding  St.  Paul's  injunction  to  "  walk  worthy  of 
the  vocation  wherewith  ye  are  called,  with  all  lowli- 
ness and  meekness,  with  longsuffering,  forbearing 
one  another  in  love,  endeavouring  to  keep  the  unity 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace." 

basis  in  the  New  Testament  presentation  of  the  Person  of 
Christ.  He  is  viewed,  first,  in  reference  to  the  universe  as 
"  the  firstborn  of  all  creation,"  "  by  whom  the  worlds  were 
made";  and,  second,  in  reference  to  His  mystical  indwelling 
in  His  Church,  "which  is  His  Body,  the  fulness  of  Him  who 
filleth  all  in  all."  A  Catholic  is  one  who,  according  to  New 
Testament  standards,  is  both  philosopher  and  mystic;  who,  with 
broadest  possible  views  of  God  and  the  world,  is  able  to  con- 
ceive of  God's  working  in  the  world  in  manifold  and  minutest 
ways.  To  be  Catholic-minded  means,  or  ought  to  mean,  to  be 
in  the  way  of  becoming  intellectually  broad  and  spiritually 
deep.— F.  J.  K. 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  ORDERS 


IV 
THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  ORDERS 

THIS  paper  is*  written  with  a  twofold  object.  It 
aims,  first,  at  stating  an  issue,  and,  second,  at  in- 
dicating the  way  in  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
writer,  the  issue  is  to  be  met.  The  first  of  these 
aims  is  the  more  important.  The  paper  will  have 
answered  its  purpose,  if  it  state  a  dilemma  in  such 
a  way  as  to  stimulate  thought,  even  if,  in  giving  an 
outline  of  reasons  for  choosing  one  horn  of  the 
dilemma  rather  than  the  other,  it  fail  to  formulate 
thought.  Clear  statement  is  the  necessary  prelimi- 
nary to  any  discussion;  and  any  contribution  to- 
ward clear  statement  of  data,  or  clear  apprehension 
of  issues  involved,  has  a  real,  though  it  may  be  sub- 
ordinate, use.  The  general  problem,  of  which  cer- 
tain aspects  are  here  considered,  is  that  of  the  Prin- 
ciple of  Holy  Orders. 


At  the  present  time  our  Church  is  confronted  by 
questions  of  critical  import.  It  is  asked  in  general 
to  reconsider  its  traditional  position  in  the  light  of 
modern  religious  developments;  and  in  particular 
to  see  whether  the  interests  of  Christian  unity  do 
not  require  the  abandonment,  or  at  least  modifica- 

91 


92  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

tion,  of  its  implied  theory  of  the  Christian  ministry. 
Some  of  our  fellow-Churchmen  no  longer  hold  the 
strict  Anglican  view  that  episcopal  ordination  is 
necessary  for  valid  ministry  in  the  Church;  and  we 
are  all  forced  to  consider  whether  this  position  does 
not  represent  an  advance  in  religious  thought,  a  true 
revival  of  evangelical  principle,  which  our  Church 
as  a  whole  ought  to  make  its  own.  It  is  becoming 
apparent  that  the  Church  must  either  vindicate  her 
principles  of  authority  and  government  more  fully 
than  she  has  done  in  the  past,  or  surrender  them 
for  the  sake  of  closer  relations  with  other  Christians. 
The  chief  ground  for  disliking  or  suspecting  the 
idea  that  Church  authority  is  inextricably  identified 
with  the  episcopate  is  the  apparent  conflict  between 
this  idea  and  the  spirit  and  interests  of  unity.  Chris- 
tian unity  is  the  chief  thing  we  wish  to  promote.  It 
is  the  hope,  as  well  as  the  boast,  of  our  Church  that 
it  lies  within  her  province  to  do  special  work  for  this 
cause.  We  have  thought  of  it  and  talked  of  it  for 
a  long  time;  and  it  seems  obvious  that  our  country 
offers  opportunities  for  working  out  some  details 
of  the  unity-problem  for  the  benefit  of  the  world. 
We  wish  now  to  act  rather  than  to  talk;  and  in  ap- 
pealing to  others  to  abandon  the  "  hatred  and  preju- 
dice, and  whatsoever  else  may  hinder  us  from  godly 
union  and  concord,"  from  which  we  pray  to  be  de- 
livered, we  wish,  out  of  justice  and  chivalry,  to  meet 
advances  more  than  halfway,  and  to  surrender  posi- 
tions and  prejudices  of  our  own,  which  are  obstacles 
to  closer  relations  with  brethren,  to  whom  we  are 
near  at  heart,  though  sundered  by  ecclesiastical  bar- 


The  Principle  of  Orders  93 

riers.  No  man  can  be  a  good  Christian  and  good 
Churchman  who  has  not  a  great  and  growing  desire  to 
make  practical  contribution  to  the  work  of  unity, 
and  who  is  not  willing  to  pay  a  great  price  for 
advance  toward  realisation  of  our  Lord's  last  prayer 
for  His  Church.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  are  all 
keen  to  broaden  and  deepen  our  sympathies  that  they 
may  in  some  degree  correspond  to  the  universality 
of  our  Lord's  intention  for  His  Gospel;  and  we 
are  ready  to  make  any  surrender  which  principles 
and  interests  of  the  Gospel  faith  demand.  The  will 
to  further  the  cause  of  unity  is  present,  as  is  also 
the  determination  to  give  it  practical  expression 
within  the  present  generation.  It  is  urged  upon 
us  that  the  only  way  in  which  this  will  and  deter- 
mination can  be  carried  out  is  by  working  for  unity 
among  the  Protestants  of  America. 

This  spirit  has  a  striking  background  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  Church.  It  received  classic  expression 
in  the  "  Memorial "  of  1853,  forever  to  be  associated 
with  the  memory  of  William  Augustus  Muhlenberg, 
who  declared  the  primary  aim  of  his  "  Evangelical 
Catholicism  "  to  be  "  the  effecting  of  a  Church  unity 
in  the  Protestant  Christendom  of  our  land."  "  To 
become,"  he  wrote,  "  a  central  bond  of  union  among 
Christians,  who,  though  differing  in  name,  yet  hold 
to  the  one  faith,  the  one  Lord,  and  the  one  bap- 
tism, and  who  need  only  such  a  bond  to  be  drawn 
together  in  closer  and  more  primitive  fellowship, 
is  here  believed  to  be  the  peculiar  province  and  high 
privilege  of  a  college  of  Catholic  and  Apostolic 
Bishops  as  such."  Hence  was  sought  "  some  ecclesi- 


94  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

astical  system,  broader  and  more  inclusive  than,  .  .  . 
though  surrounding  and  including,  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  as  it  now  is."  The  same  spirit 
has  received  emphasis  and  practical  advocacy  in  re- 
cent years  in  the  teaching  and  achievements  of 
William  Reed  Huntington.  The  chief  contention 
of  leaders  such  as  these,  that  the  liturgical  forms  of 
the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  are  not  to  be  pressed 
as  indispensably  necessary  to  intercommunion,  has 
been  fully  established.  It  is  accepted  on  all  sides 
as  matter  of  course  that  liturgical  uniformity  is  not 
essential  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Christian  faith. 

The  question  is  now  raised  whether,  as  an  appar- 
ent extension  of  the  work  thus  begun,  we  should  not 
relegate  the  ministry  to  the  category  of  non- 
essentials.  While  the  cause  of  unity  can  ignore  no 
section  of  the  Christian  world,  we  are  bound  as  prac- 
tical men  to  do  what  we  can  along  such  lines  as  are 
open  in  our  day;  and  we  are  reminded  that  work 
along  these  lines  would  be  simplified  by  less  rigor- 
ous theories  of  Church-polity  than  our  formularies, 
strictly  interpreted,  teach.  Our  actual  problem  is 
often  described  somewhat  as  follows: 

We  cannot  now  hope  for  any  union  with  the 
Roman  Communion.  Rome  defies  the  world  and  will 
have  communion  only  on  terms  of  unconditional  sur- 
render to  conceptions  which,  in  comparatively  recent 
times,  she  has  defined  as  Catholic  and  necessary 
articles  of  faith.  She  knows  no  such  word  as  com- 
promise. From  our  standpoint  it  is  as  true  now 
as  when  Archbishop  Laud  uttered  the  words,  that 
"  there  can  be  no  union  with  Rome,  until  Rome  be 


The  Principle  of  Orders  95 

other  than  she  is."  And  Rome  shows  no  signs  of 
being  "  other."  It  seems  plain  that,  however  much 
we  know  that  united  Christendom  above  all  else  must 
embrace  the  millions  of  subjects  of  the  Roman 
Papacy,  the  time  for  that  is  not  to  be  within  our 
generation.  Such  hopeful  signs  as  have  appeared 
in  Rome  within  twenty-five  years  have  led  only  to 
new  defiance  and  the  erection  of  new  barriers.  We 
cannot  omit  our  Roman  cousins  from  our  prayers; 
but  thought  of  present  reunion  lies  without  the  realm 
of  practical  possibility.  They  demand  a  surrender 
which,  with  our  beliefs  concerning  the  Gospel  and 
the  early  Church,  we  can  neither  in  reason  nor  in 
conscience  make.  From  the  practical  standpoint, 
therefore,  it  seems  that  Rome  must  be  eliminated. 

Moreover,  there  would  seem  to  be  little  more  that 
is  promising  in  the  ancient  Communions  of  the  Greek 
Patriarchates.  Theoretically,  they  are  very  attract- 
ive; but  actually  they  seem  to  present  a  development 
arrested  fourteen  centuries  ago;  and  their  ig- 
norance,— and  unfortunately  we  must  add, — insin- 
cerity, and  suspicion  of  the  intellectual  and  political 
ideals  of  the  modern  world,  to  which  we  cannot  shut 
our  eyes,  make  them  seem  remote.  We  can  only 
deal  with  them  as  backward  peoples  deeply  in  need 
of  education  and  missionary  philanthropy.  These 
we  are  glad  to  give;  but  we  cannot  buy  ecclesiastical 
unity  at  the  expense  of  reversion  to  a  condition  of 
things  more  archaic  than  the  feudalism  of  Rome. 
The  occasional  exchange  of  social  amenities  is  all 
that  now  seems  possible.  On  the  side  of  the  older 
Communions  of  Christendom  it  seems  that  there  is 


96  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

nothing  which  we  Anglicans  can  now  do.  No  deaf 
adders  were  ever  more  reserved  and  unapproachable 
than  our  Greek  great-grandmother  and  our  Roman 
aunt.1 

But  it  is  very  different  when  we  look  in  the 
other  direction  toward  our  Protestant  cousins  and 
brothers-in-law.  We  understand  them;  we  can  dis- 
cuss matters  with  them;  and  they  are  open  to  con- 
viction. The  spirit  of  love  and  Christian  fellowship 
fills  us  both ;  and  the  time  seems  ripe  for  our  getting 
together.  Every  atom  of  charity  and  chivalry  in 
us  is  tingling  to  show  our  appreciation  of  them, 
and  our  desire  to  be  at  one  with  them  in  some  definite 
practical  way. 

And  the  special  barrier  between  us  and  them  is 
"  the  Historic  Episcopate."  Not  that  people  object 
to  an  episcopate,  even  though  historic,  if  it  make 
no  exclusive  claims.  But  to  insist  on  episcopal  or- 
dination is  to  place  a  stumbling-block.  Episco- 
palians are  aloof  from  other  Protestants  because  of 
the  arrogance  of  the  claim  of  Apostolic  Succession. 
To  give  up  the  Apostolic  Succession  as  a  theory 
would  simplify  matters  greatly ;  even  if  Bishops  were 

1  Such  a  statement  as  this  does  not  do  justice  to  the  actual 
conditions  in  the  Roman  and  Greek  Communions,  though  it 
does  state  accurately  enough  the  superficial  aspects  of  the 
practical  problem.  In  the  Roman  Communion  are  strong  evan- 
gelical and  liberal  elements  which  are  constantly  growing 
stronger,  and  may  before  long  exercise  a  dominant  influence 
in  the  Curia;  in  the  Greek  Communion  there  are  much  more 
life  and  progress! veness  than  is  ordinarily  recognised,  as  they 
know  well  who  have  close  acquaintance  with  the  Church  of 
Russia. 


The  Principle  of  Orders  97 

retained  as  picturesque  adjuncts  of  circuit-confer- 
ences and  fashionable  weddings.  The  concession 
which  the  Protestant  world  especially  asks  of  the 
Anglican  Churches  is  that  the  theory  of  Episco- 
palian polity  be  no  longer  pressed.  The  obvious 
blessings  which  have  followed  the  workings  of  non- 
episcopal  ministries  seem  to  afford  sufficient  proof 
that  episcopal  ordination  is  not  a  matter  of  neces- 
sity. The  Holy  Spirit  does  not  confine  Himself  to 
episcopal  channels.  To  quote  the  Bishop  of  Bir- 
mingham :  "  We  must  recognise  that  upon  the  basis 
of  rebellion  [from  the  Historic  Episcopate]  there 
have  arisen  Christian  churches  with  a  noble  and  con- 
tinuous record  of  spiritual  excellence — exhibiting, 
both  in  individuals  and  corporately,  manifest  fruits 
of  the  Spirit  alike  in  learning,  in  virtue,  and  in  evan- 
gelical zeal.  To  deny  God's  presence  with  them, 
and  His  co-operation  in  their  work  and  ministry, 
would  seem  to  approach  to  blasphemy  against  the 
Holy  Spirit.  We  cannot  express  in  words  too  strong 
our  assurance  that  God  has  been  with  them,  and  that 
we  are  meant  to  learn  from  their  saints  and  teach- 
ers, and  to  sit  at  their  feet  as  before  those  who 
possess  God's  Spirit." 1  Facts  like  these  and  the 
practical  needs  of  the  United  States  seem  to  demand 
the  dropping  of  such  exclusive  claims  as  have  been 
made  for  historic  Anglican  Orders. 

In  addition  to  this,  these  claims  are  opposed  not 
only  from  the  standpoint  of  practical  ecclesiastical 
politics,  but  also  from  that  of  the  popular  ideals 

1  Gore:  Orders  and  Unity,  p.  184. 


98  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

of  a  democratic  state.  Bishop  Cranston  of  the 
Methodist  Church  recently  gave  a  brief  statement 
of  his  reasons  for  opposing  the  Papal  Hierarchy  in 
terms  which  would  commend  themselves  to  most  of 
our  fellow-citizens: 

"  First — The  American  form  of  government  was 
from  the  outset  a  protest  against  the  assumed  divine 
right  of  kings  and  emperors  to  rule  their  fellow- 
men.  In  that  sense  it  is,  as  against  the  ancient  or- 
der, a  protesting  or  protestant  form  of  government. 

"  Second — The  Protestant  Church  stands  for  the 
same  essential  spirit  in  its  protest  against  the  as- 
sumed divine  right  of  the  Pontiff  of  Rome  to  rule 
over  and  direct  the  spiritual  affairs  of  the  world. 

"  Third — Papacy  is  religious  monarchy,  claiming 
universal  dominion  and  the  power  to  dispose  of  the 
souls  and  bodies  of  men  by  its  own  standards.  Prot- 
estantism is  spiritual  democracy,  declaring  the  right 
of  every  man  to  choose  his  own  beliefs  and  such 
church-order  as  suits  him  best. 

"Fourth — The  issue  just  joined  is  not  sectarian, 
unless  the  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty 
embodied  in  our  American  Constitution  are  sectarian. 
We  believe  that  the  rights  of  the  people  are  God- 
given,  and  that  all  subversive  claims  are  to  be  classed 
as  sectarian  and  heretical,  because  they  are  in  viola- 
tion of  Divine  order." 

These  reasons  as  conclusively  condemn  Episcopacy 
as  Papacy.  The  latter  may  be  monarchy  and  the 
former  oligarchy;  but  both  assume  authority  by 
Divine  sanction,  and  claim  obedience  as  representing 


The  Principle  of  Orders  99 

a  transmitted  authority,  which  does  not  assume  that 
the  only  "  God-given  "  authority  is  to  be  found  in 
"  the  rights  of  the  people,"  nor  that  "  every  man 
is  to  choose  his  own  beliefs  and  such  church-order 
as  suits  him  best."  Or,  to  put  it  differently,  though 
there  be  clear  recognition  that  the  democratic  prin- 
ciple has  its  place,  and  that  the  rendering  of  obedi- 
ence to  ecclesiastical  authority  is  a  voluntary  act, 
nevertheless  authority  is  claimed  by  virtue  not  of 
popular  election  but  of  official  heredity.  Any  form 
of  transmitted  authority  in  the  Church  clashes  with 
certain  ideals  of  modern  democracy. 

The  principle  is  attacked  also  from  the  side  of 
scientific  criticism.  On  many  sides  there  are  schol- 
ars who  read  into  the  history  of  the  early  Church 
either  Congregationalism  or  Anarchy.  Some  claim 
that  the  earliest  ministry  derived  all  authority  from 
popular  election;  that  after  the  Apostles  there  was 
pure  democracy  in  the  Church;  others  like  Sohm, 
that  there  was  no  government  among  primitive  Chris- 
tians at  all ;  but  that  the  introduction  of  this  repre- 
sents the  perversion  of  original  institutions.  Criti- 
cism is,  therefore,  claimed  as  ally  of  modern  spirit 
and  American  exigencies  to  prove  the  necessity  of 
receding  from  the  position  implied  in  Anglican  formu- 
laries and  canons,  and  expressly  asserted  in  the 
fourth  section  of  the  Chicago-Lambeth  Quadrilateral. 
The  Church  is  asked  to  reconsider  its  traditional 
position,  and  to  admit  that  the  Historic  Episcopate 
is  not  rightly  classed  with  Scriptures,  Creeds,  and 
Sacraments,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  now  clear,  both 
from  signs  of  the  times  and  from  latest  investiga- 


100  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

tions  into  Christian  origins,  that  episcopacy  is  not 
essential  to  the  Christian  structure,  but  is  merely 
an  ancient  accident  of  its  historic  development. 

There  has  always  been  a  party  in  the  Anglican 
Communion  which  disbelieved  in  Apostolic  Succes- 
sion; and  it  is  now  strongly  urged  upon  us  that 
the  contention  of  this  party  has  been  completely  vin- 
dicated, that  there  should  be  clear  recognition  that 
the  matter  of  Orders  is  not  one  of  essentials.  The 
Historic  Episcopate  must  be  put  into  the  category 
with  the  Papacy  and  the  Patriarchates,  a  human 
device  which  has  had,  and  has,  temporary  usefulness, 
yet  is  no  part  of  the  original  Christian  deposit.  It 
cannot  be  made  a  condition  of  unity,  since  it  is  not 
of  Divine,  but  of  human,  origin.  This  argument 
is  strong  and  plausible;  and  no  deep  thinker  or 
earnest  worker  can  ignore  or  disparage  it.  If  the 
facts  be  as  it  states,  the  conclusions  drawn  are 
irresistible. 

The  principle  which  underlies  this  contention — 
namely,  that  we  must  distinguish  between  essentials 
and  non-essentials  and  place  in  the  former  category 
only  what  can  claim  Divine  sanction — is  unmistak- 
ably true.  It  represents  one  of  the  chief  contentions 
of  Anglicanism.  We  are  bound  by  our  own  special 
principles  to  exhibit  this  discrimination.  If  the  His- 
toric Episcopate  does  not  represent  something  of  our 
Lord's  institution,  it  has  no  right  to  the  place  given 
it  in  the  Quadrilateral,  and  the  sooner  it  is  displaced 
the  better.  If  it  be  of  mere  human  devising,  it  makes 
no  difference  by  what  generation  of  men  it  was  de- 
vised. Long  continuance  and  prescription  by  cus- 


The  Principle  of  Orders  101 

torn  do  not  differentiate  it  from  any  other  system 
having  similar  origin.  Inventions  of  the  Reformers 
or  of  men  back  of  the  Reformers,  or  even  of  the 
Apostles,  if  they  acted  simply  of  their  own  motion, 
have  no  more  claim  on  our  allegiance  from  the  stand- 
point of  principle  than  any  invention  which  we  might 
make  ourselves.  Many  social  and  legal  arrangements 
in  the  Church  have  served  useful  purposes  in  their 
time,  and  serve  them  still;  but,  notwithstanding  our 
respect  for  their  utilitarian  value,  we  cannot  treat 
them  as  in  any  way  essential  to  the  preservation  of 
the  Christian  Church.  The  system  of  Patriarchates 
in  the  Roman  Empire  was  such  an  arrangement;  the 
Papacy  was  such  an  arrangement  in  feudal  society, 
where  it  served  in  an  age  of  disintegration  to  main- 
tain the  claims  of  moral  principle  over  brute  force 
in  a  way  served  by  no  other  power  for  centuries; 
it  still  serves  to  bind  together  a  great  portion  of 
the  Christian  world  in  a  way  in  which  nothing  else 
at  this  time  would  bind  them ;  the  Methodist  "  Epis- 
copate "  has  performed  a  function  of  unique  use- 
fulness in  guiding  one  of  the  greatest  Christian 
forces  in  our  land.  But  all  these  organised  systems 
of  church-government  were  devised  and  set  at  work 
by  men  in  ways  of  which  we  have  full  knowledge. 
If  what  we  call  "  the  Historic  Episcopate  "  had  a 
similar  origin,  we  have  no  right  to  urge  it  as  a 
condition  of  unity.  We  have  no  right  to  add  to 
our  Lord's  terms  of  union;  the  Church  must  be 
kept  as  broad  as  He  made  it.  We  cannot  say  to 
those  who  abandon  historic  Orders :  "  Do  take  our 
Bishops.  They  are  very  ancient  and  very  con- 


102  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

venient."  It  is  sufficient  to  reply  to  such  an  appeal, 
"  We  prefer  modern  conveniences ! "  There  is  no 
collusiveness  in  an  argument  from  mere  utilitarian 
antiquity.  Unless  the  Historic  Episcopate  repre- 
sent something  which  has  its  origin  in  a  Divine 
command,  we  have  laid  unjustified  stress  upon  it. 
We  can  only  approach  those  who  believe  in  our  Lord, 
and  are  devoted  to  His  service,  with  an  appeal  for 
recognition  of  what  comes  to  them  from  our  Lord 
Himself.  In  our  own  name  we  can  claim  nothing; 
in  His  Name  we  can  claim  and  gain  everything.  But 
unless  we  can  speak  in  His  Name,  we  must  be  silent. 

We  are  in  a  difficulty  because  our  Church  has 
defined  as  essential  to  Christianity  something  in  re- 
gard to  which  her  own  mind  is  not  wholly  clear,  as 
to  whether  it  represents  an  institution  of  our  Lord 
or  not.  She  is,  therefore,  at  fault,  either  in  the 
position  she  has  assumed,  or  the  reasons  which  are 
implied  for  assuming  it.  If  we  are  to  deal  with  this 
difficulty,  which  is  made  for  us,  and  clamours  for 
speedy  solution,  we  must  consider  various  questions 
of  fact,  past  and  present,  facts  concerning  the  be- 
ginnings of  Christianity  and  facts  concerning  the 
present  needs  of  Christendom.  We  are  bound  to 
clarify  our  convictions  in  regard  to  the  inherent 
principles  of  the  New  Testament  Church,  the  rela- 
tion of  Church  authority  to  the  modern  spirit,  and 
the  actual  religious  conditions  of  the  world  to-day. 
Until  there  be  serious  discussion  of  these  and  kindred 
problems — discussion  more  serious  than  we  are  in 
the  habit  of  undertaking — we  cannot  expect  to  make 
genuine  advance  toward  the  goal  of  our  hope. 


The  Principle  of  Orders  103 

Our  attitude  toward  the  Principle  of  Orders,  and 
toward  the  relation  of  Orders  to  Unity,  is  generally 
one  of  impatience  or  even  of  suspicion.  We  have 
tried  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  harmony  to  keep 
it  in  the  background,  wishing  neither  to  quarrel  with 
the  institutions  of  our  own  Church  nor  to  be  disa- 
greeable to  our  neighbours.  Without  denying  the 
correctness  of  our  theoretical  position,  we  have 
quietly  abolished  the  emphasis  our  ancestors  gave 
to  the  principle  of  the  Succession,  avoiding  both  dis- 
cussion of  it  in  public  and  consideration  of  it  in  pri- 
vate. The  Episcopal  Church  is  theoretically  the 
defender,  as  well  as  the  maintainer,  of  the  Episco- 
pate; but  comparatively  few  of  us  have  made  sober 
effort  to  see  the  relation  between  the  principle  of  the 
Episcopate  and  the  needs  of  Christianity  in  the 
present  day,  or  the  fundamental  needs  of  human 
nature,  or  the  original  institutions  of  the  Gospel. 
All  this  must  be  done,  if  we  are  to  perpetuate  the 
teaching  of  our  Church,  and  not  promptly  to  own 
that  in  this  matter  our  sense  of  proportion  has  been 
at  fault.  Indifference  is  no  longer  possible.  We 
must  believe  less  than  we  have  concerning  our  minis- 
try, or  we  must  believe  more;  and  in  either  case  we 
must  know  what  it  is  we  believe,  and  why  it  is  that 
we  believe  it.  Moreover,  having  clear  convictions, 
we  are  bound  to  maintain  them ;  because  either  way 
they  have  bearings  of  immense  practical  importance 
upon  crying  needs  of  the  time.  The  popular  cry 
in  quarters  from  which  we  hear  most  is,  "  Believe 
less;  study  history,  past  and  present;  and  own  your 
mistakes."  The  alternative  of  believing  less  is  the 


104  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

one  which  is  just  now  receiving  the  more  vigorous 
championship;  but  there  is  much  to  be  said  for  the 
other  alternative. 


If  we  are  not  to  believe  less  than  we  have  done 
concerning  that  which  we  call  the  Historic  Episco- 
pate, we  are  bound  to  believe  a  great  deal  more. 
If  we  choose  this  alternative,  it  will  be  because 
we  have  come  to  see  more  clearly  than  we  now  do: 
(1)  that  "Historic  Episcopate"  implies  more  than 
it  asserts;  (2)  that  it  has  its  source  in  a  Divine 
command  or  ordinance;  (3)  that  it  is  congruous  to 
essential  needs  of  religious  humanity;  and  (4)  that 
the  evidence  of  history  illustrates  the  truth  of  the 
principle  involved.  The  comments  made  in  this  pa- 
per will  have  chiefly  to  do  with  considerations  re- 
lated to  the  first  two  of  these  four  points.  At  the 
risk  of  seeming  to  abandon  the  real  world  for  an 
imaginary,  the  paper  will  deal  not  so  much  with 
facts  as  with  presuppositions,  since  these  latter  are 
of  prior  importance. 

All  evidence  comprises  two  distinct  things,  that 
which  establishes  antecedent  probability,  and  testi- 
mony which  shows  antecedent  probability  to  have 
been  a  fact.  No  evidence  of  the  second  sort  has 
weight  in  absence  of  evidence  of  the  first.  No  testi- 
mony can  establish  an  antecedently  incredible  fact. 
It  will  always  be  more  likely  that  any  number  of 
witnesses  were  mistaken  than  that  there  was  any 
occurrence  of  the  impossible.  It  is  often  necessary 
to  discard  testimony  which,  upon  internal  grounds, 


The  Principle  of  Orders  105 

is  plainly  untrustworthy;  and  those  whose  precon- 
ceptions preclude  acceptance  of  any  given  fact  are 
quite  right  in  rejecting  testimony  which  contradicts 
these.  They  only  act  upon  a  principle  which  gov- 
erns all  rational  action.  Difficulties  in  regard  to 
testimony  must  yield  to  the  paramount  claims  of 
presuppositions.  Until  these  are  determined,  the 
testimony  cannot  be  fairly  examined.  In  discussions 
concerning  the  constitution  of  the  Church,  more 
often  than  not  difference  of  opinion  is  due  not  so 
much  to  difficulty  in  discovering  matters  of  fact, 
or  of  discerning  their  significance,  as  to  differences 
in  fundamental  assumption.  Until  we  can  agree  as 
to  assumptions,  or  at  least  can  understand  what  our 
respective  assumptions  are,  we  are  not  in  position 
to  consider  the  bearing  of  what  appears  on  the  sur- 
face of  history.  In  all  historical  discussions  a  study 
of  backgrounds  is  necessary  as  a  beginning;  and  in 
discussion  of  Christian  problems  there  must  always 
be  reversion  to  Christology.  If  the  presupposition 
that  the  commonplaces  of  ordinary  life  afford  full 
criteria  for  testing  the  early  Church  be  a  true  one, 
any  testimony  to  a  mystical  element  in  its  life  may 
be  brushed  aside.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  presup- 
position of  a  mystical  presence  of  Christ  in  the 
Church  be  a  true  one,  testimony  as  to  the  existence 
of  the  mystical  may  be  accepted.  In  discussing  the 
question  of  Orders  it  is  of  prime  necessity  that  we 
establish  at  the  outset  the  presuppositions  that  con- 
stitute points  of  approach.  In  regard  to  the  Episco- 
pate, presuppositions  will  relate  immediately  to  the 
ministry,  of  which  the  Episcopate  forms  a  part;  be- 


106  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

yond  that,  to  the  Church,  of  which  the  ministry  is 
representative;  and  ultimately  to  the  Person  of  the 
one  Lord,  who  is  the  Head  of  the  Church. 

Whether  we  believe  less  or  more  of  the  Historic 
Episcopate,  it  would  seem  clear  that  from  either 
standpoint  too  much  importance  has  been  attached 
to  Bishops.  If  their  office  be  not  of  Divine  appoint- 
ment, allusion  to  it  in  the  list  of  Christian  essentials 
is  out  of  place;  if  it  is  of  Divine  appointment,  this 
can  only  be  demonstrated  by  showing  that  the  epis- 
copate is  one  detail  in  the  general  system  of  the 
ministry  and  the  Church.  It  has  no  isolated  im- 
portance. Its  value  is  due  to  its  context;  and  it  is 
this  context  which  may  claim  place  among  Christian 
essentials. 

The  term  "  Historic  Episcopate  "  represents  a  non- 
committal attitude  toward  the  principle  of  Orders; 
and  its  use  in  the  Quadrilateral  is  exposed  to  criti- 
cism from  two  sides.  Either  it  refers  to  something 
which  cannot  be  rightly  classed  with  Scriptures, 
Creeds,  and  Sacraments ;  in  which  case  it  should  be 
omitted  altogether:  or  it  represents  more  than  it 
affirms;  in  which  case  it  should  be  replaced  by  some 
expression  not  ambiguous.  The  language  represents 
an  intentional  compromise,  and  might  well  be  super- 
seded; not,  however,  on  the  ground  that  it  claims 
more  than  can  be  justified  at  the  bar  of  history,  rea- 
son, and  practical  necessity,  but  because  it  does  not 
claim  enough. 

Nothing  "  historic  "  has  any  paramount  claim  to 
Christian  obedience,  unless  history  carry  it  back  to 
our  Lord  Himself.  The  Historic  Episcopate,  merely 


The  Principle  of  Orders  107 

regarded  as  an  ancient  fact,  has  ipso  facto  no  more 
claim  upon  allegiance  than  the  historic  Papacy,  the 
historic  presbyterate  of  Calvinism,  or  the  historic 
"  episcopate  "  of  Methodism.  All  these  have  served 
useful  purposes  and  can  claim  reverence  from  com- 
paratively long  continuance.  A  device  of  to-day 
with  sufficient  good  points  to  ensure  survival  would 
soon  become  "  historic."  Origin  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  or  in  the  sixth,  can  claim  no  intrinsic  supe- 
riority over  origin  in  the  twentieth;  nor  for  that 
matter  can  origin  in  the  second  century  or  the  first, 
unless  in  the  latter  case  the  origin  be  in  an  institu- 
tion of  our  Lord.  If  "  historic  "  have  serious  im- 
port, it  connotes  Divine  appointment.  If  "  Historic 
Episcopate  "  have  right  to  its  place,  it  means  all  that 
is  implied  in  Apostolic  Succession  and  more.  "  His- 
toric Apostolate  "  might  be  a  better  term,  as  more 
clearly  suggesting  the  implied  claim  of  Divine  origin. 
No  one  doubts  that  our  Lord  instituted  a  body  of 
Apostles ;  and,  if  the  Episcopate  means  anything  of 
importance,  it  indicates  the  extension  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  apostolacy.  It  can  only  be  justified,  if 
its  principle  inhere  in  that  of  the  New  Testament 
Church. 

And  if  "  historic  "  is  an  ambiguous  term,  "  epis- 
copate "  is  too  narrow.  Whatever  claim  is  made  for 
the  episcopate  applies  also  to  the  other  orders  of 
the  ministry.  The  Russian  Church  is  more  logical 
than  the  Anglican  when,  in  defining  in  her  Catechism 
the  principle  of  Orders,  she  makes  no  isolated  refer- 
ence to  Bishops,  but  speaks  of  the  Ministry  as  a 
whole : 


108  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

"  Q.  What  ecclesiastical  institution  is  there 
through  which  the  succession  of  the  apostolical  min- 
istry is  preserved? 

"  A.  The  Ecclesiastical  Hierarchy. 

"  Q.  Whence  originates  the  Hierarchy  of  the  Or- 
thodox Christian  Church? 

"  A.  From  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  and  from  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  the  Apostles;  from 
which  time  it  is  continued  in  unbroken  succession 
through  the  laying  on  of  hands  in  the  Sacrament  of 
Orders.  And  He  gave  some  apostles;  and  some 
prophets;  and  some  evangelists;  and  some  pastors 
and  teachers;  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edtfying  of  the 
Body  of  Christ." 

Moreover,  whatever  claim  is  made  for  the  Ministry 
is  made  for  the  Church  as  a  whole.  The  question  of 
the  form  of  the  Ministry  must  be  merged  in  the 
principle  of  the  Ministry,  which  must  be  related  di- 
rectly to  the  principle  of  the  Church.  If  the  Min- 
istry have  a  Divine  commission,  it  is  because  the 
Church  has  a  Divine  commission ;  and  if  the  Minis- 
try be  now  used  as  instruments  for  the  Divine  ac- 
tivity of  the  ascended  Christ,  it  is  because  the  power 
of  the  Ascended  Christ  fills  that  whole  Church,  which 
is  "  a  royal  priesthood "  working  for  Him.  The 
Church  of  to-day,  and  the  apostolate  of  to-day,  must 
be  regarded  as  inspired  in  the  same  way  as  their 
primitive  prototypes.  "  Historic  Episcopate,"  ra- 
tionally interpreted,  means  "  Historic  Ministry  "  in 
the  widest  sense;  this,  logically  resolved,  must  be 


The  Principle  of  Orders  109 

interpreted  as  "  Historic  Church  " ;  and  "  Historic 
Church,"  if  it  be  of  essential  importance,  means 
Divinely-appointed  Church.  Had  the  Lambeth  fa- 
thers coupled  "  Historic  Church "  with  Scriptures, 
Creeds,  and  Sacraments  it  would  have  been  more 
clear  why  their  Quadrilateral  should  not  have  been 
left  a  Triangle.  The  fourth  essential  principle  is 
the  Church  principle,  if  it  is  anything  at  all.  It 
claims  for  Christianity  the  principle  of  all  social 
order  and  growth,  corporate  organisation;  and  it 
can  be  justified,  if  the  corporate  principle  can  be 
shown  to  inhere  in  religion,  as  well  as  in  Christianity. 

Consideration  of  a  corporate  body,  and  of  its 
government,  must  involve  consideration  of  the  char- 
acter of  its  life.  The  principle  of  authority  cannot 
be  severed  from  its  context.  The  Church  as  a  whole 
is  a  Spirit-bearing  body;  and  its  life  consists  of 
vital  contact  with  God.  The  difference  between  the 
Historic  Church  (using  this  term  in  reference  to 
the  Church  of  the  first  days)  and  other  churches  is 
that  the  Historic  Church  kept  alive  the  principle  of 
mysticism  corporately  expressed.  The  chief  rites 
of  the  Church  were  its  Sacraments ;  and  the  minis- 
try, as  functional  for,  and  representative  of,  the 
whole  laity  of  God,  had  a  sacramental  character, 
and  might  appropriately  expect  a  sacramental 
commission. 

Thus  interpreted,  the  fourth  section  of  the  Quad- 
rilateral is  a  necessary  sequence  of  the  third.  A 
sacramental  Church  requires  a  sacramental  Minis- 
try; an  apostolic  Church,  a  perpetual  Apostolate; 
a  mystical  life,  a  mystical  social  expression.  If  the 


110  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

Church  be  of  Divine  origin,  and  aim  at  making  men 
"  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature,"  there  is  place 
for  an  apostolate  Divinely  commissioned.  Moreover, 
the  mystical  Church  with  its  mystical  life  is  neces- 
sary and  natural  consequence  of  the  Divinity  of  its 
Head.  The  historical  conception  of  the  Church  fol- 
lows from  the  historical  interpretation  of  the  mean- 
ing of  the  life  of  Christ;  in  other 'words,  from  the 
theology  of  the  Creeds.  As  the  fourth  section  of 
the  Quadrilateral  depends  directly  upon  the  third, 
so  the  third  depends  directly  upon  the  second.  The 
Divine  Christ  draws  to  Himself  a  Divinely-inspired 
Church,  and  to  sustain  this  maintains  a  Divinely- 
commissioned  Ministry.  All  these  principles  depend 
upon  the  first,  the  authority  of  Holy  Scripture. 
Historic  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  the  New 
Testament.  The  ultimate  meaning  of  "  historic  " 
in  such  contexts  as  these  is  as  synonym  for  "  Scrip- 
tural." "  Historic  Episcopate,"  raised  to  its  high- 
est terms,  is  equivalent  to  "  Scriptural  Church." 

Some  forms  of  Christianity  have  deliberately,  and 
some  unconsciously,  abandoned  New  Testament  con- 
ceptions ;  but  the  only  Christianity  which  can  long 
hold  serious  attention  is  the  faith  attested  by  the 
original  records,  the  faith  which  as  matter  of  fact 
has  dominated  the  ages,  the  historic  belief  in  the 
Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God.  If  this  original 
record  be  unauthoritative  or  misleading,  the  Chris- 
tian religion  has  been  lost  beyond  reclaim.  No 
critical  ingenuity  or  poetic  aspiration  can  recover 
what  has  left  no  certain  trace.  In  these  days  of 
many  "  new  Christianities  "  we  are  slow  in  appre- 


The  Principle  of  Orders  111 

bending  that  after  all  the  old  Christianity — based 
on  the  only  trustworthy  evidence  we  possess — is  the 
only  one  which  has  enough  to  say  for  itself  to  make 
a  plausible  appeal  to  the  profound  thought  of  the 
future. 

But,  assuming  the  substantial  accuracy  of  the 
New  Testament — and  this  is  the  first  presupposition 
of  Anglican  Christianity, — it  is  possible  to  have  a.  con- 
ception and  theory  of  Christ,  a  conception  and 
theory  of  His  Church,  and  a  conception  and  theory 
of  that  Church's  ministry.  These  conceptions  are 
all  mystical.  They  are  contrasted  with  all  other 
conceptions  which,  no  matter  how  philosophical  or 
philanthropic,  reject  the  mystical  and  the  super- 
natural in  all  their  forms.  The  mystical  sequence 
begins  with  the  Person  of  the  Word  of  God  incar- 
nate, presented  in  the  inspired  Scriptures,  the  sub- 
stance of  which  is  briefly  summarised  in  the  ancient 
Creeds;  still  sacramentally  active  in  His  inspired 
Church,  the  permanence  and  coherence  of  which  is 
guaranteed  by  a  perpetual  apostolate. 

These  ideas  may  be  illustrated  from  the  language 
of  St.  Paul,  St.  John,  and  our  Lord  Himself.  The 
doctrine  of  the  Church  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians  is  but  the  counterpart  and  corollary  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians; 
the  assertions  of  mystical  relation  and  communion  in 
St.  John's  First  Epistle  are  the  natural  outcome  of 
the  theology  of  the  Prologue  to  his  Gospel  and  of 
the  conception  of  the  Son  of  Man  expressed  in  the 
imagery  of  the  Apocalypse.  Our  Lord  promises  to 
build  His  Church  upon  faith  which  recognises  Him 


112  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

as  "  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Living  God,"  and 
affirms  a  spiritual  connection  between  Himself  and 
His  disciples  analogous  to  the  connection  between 
branches  with  the  stock  of  a  vine.  It  is  consistent 
with  the  idea  of  mystical  indwelling  that  the  Church 
should  receive  a  mystical  commission;  and  this,  ac- 
cording to  St.  John's  narrative,  was  a  fact.  "  Then 
the  same  day  at  evening,  being  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  when  the  doors  were  shut  for  fear  of  the  Jews, 
came  Jesus  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and  saith  unto 
them,  Peace  be  unto  you.  And  when  He  had  so 
said,  He  showed  them  His  hands  and  His  side.  Then 
were  they  glad  when  they  saw  the  Lord.  Then  said 
Jesus  unto  them,  Peace  be  unto  you ;  as  My  Father 
hath  sent  Me,  even  so  send  I  you.  And  when  He  had 
said  this,  He  breathed  on  them,  and  saith  unto  them, 
Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost:  whosesoever  sins  ye  re- 
mit, they  are  remitted  unto  them;  and  whosesoever 
sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained." 

The  mission  of  the  Apostles  is  here  associated  with 
the  mission  of  the  Divine  Son.  It  is  related  to  the 
realm  of  the  mysterious  and  supernatural.  As  com- 
ing from  God  incarnate,  risen  from  the  dead,  there 
is  nothing  surprising  in  a  mystical  mission  of  men 
set  apart  for  a  mystical  purpose.  A  Divine  Being, 
sending  a  body  of  men  into  the  world  for  the  sake 
of  forgiving  and  retaining  sins,  might  be  expected 
to  inaugurate  their  work  in  some  supernatural  way. 
Nothing  is  natural  for  a  supernatural  purpose  but 
a  supernatural  method.  Moreover,  men  commis- 
sioned to  discharge  spiritual  functions  of  necessity 
require  spiritual  credentials.  If  the  Head  of  the 


The  Principle  of  Orders  113 

Christian  Church  be  God,  supernaturally  active  to 
effect  the  conversion  of  men  to  Himself,  He  may  be 
expected  to  work  in  human  society  in  superhuman 
ways ;  and  His  method  of  ruling  and  perpetuating 
His  Church  is  of  necessity  a  method  appropriate 
not  to  men  but  to  God. 

The  question  inevitably  arises,  Can  God  safely 
depute  His  authority  to  rule  to  men?  A  negative 
answer  is  the  easier  to  give.  But  there  is  an  im- 
portant analogy  which  calls  for  pause.  The  first 
function  which  we  concede  in  our  thought  to  God 
is  creation.  The  question  may  be  asked :  "  Can,  or 
does,  God  depute  His  creative  function  to  men?  Is 
it  conceivable  that  He  should  do  this,  or,  if  so,  that 
the  results  should  not  be  disastrous?"  He  does  do 
this ;  and  the  results  are  disastrous ;  and  yet,  in  spite 
of  the  anomaly,  we  believe  in  God  as  Father,  and 
as  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth.  We  should  not  of 
ourselves  expect  that  Divine  creation  would  be  put 
into  commission;  but,  since  we  see  it,  we  can  raise 
no  theoretical  objection  to  redemption  and  sancti- 
fication  put  into  commission.  We  can  say  of  noth- 
ing that  God  must  work  in  any  specified  way ;  but 
analogies  help  to  remove  difficulties,  not  by  explain- 
ing what  lies  beyond  our  present  comprehension,  but 
by  suggesting  that  in  parallel  cases  we  do  not  find 
them  insuperable. 

We  have  not  gone  to  the  bottom  of  our  difficul- 
ties over  ecclesiastical  questions  until  we  see  that 
they  resolve  themselves  into  questions  of  Christology 
or  Theology.  The  fundamental  question  is,  "  What 
think  ye  of  Christ  ?  "  If  the  answer  we  make  is  that 


114  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

of  St.  Thomas,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God,"  then  our 
attitude  will  be  like  Thomas',  and  we  shall  have  no 
difficulty  in  accepting  on  our  Lord's  authority  the 
idea  of  a  mystical  Church  with  a  mystical  apostolate 
mystically  connected  with  the  Divine  King.  We 
are  at  fault  if  we  think  of  the  Church  solely  in  terms 
of  ordinary  social  institutions.  Our  thought  of  it 
must  take  constant  account  of  Him  Who  rules  over 
and  through  it. 

The  links  in  historical  testimony  for  a  ministry 
tracing  to  Christ,  and  having  mystical  authority, 
are  sufficient  to  establish  the  fact  for  any  one  who 
considers  hereditary  transmission  of  Divine  author- 
ity antecedently  credible.  It  is  only  by  doing  vio- 
lence to  testimony  of  a  varied  and  conclusive  charac- 
ter that  the  principle  of  transmissible  authority  can 
be  read  out  of  the  New  Testament ;  and  only  by  simi- 
lar violence  that  the  extension  of  this  principle  can 
be  banished  from  the  sub-apostolic  age.  Violence  is 
justifiable  if  the  facts  attested  or  suggested  are  of 
an  improbable  character;  but  in  this  case  the  facts 
are  not  improbable  to  those  who  have  already  made 
the  assumptions,  and  the  inductions,  which  make 
possible  a  belief  in  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of 
God.  If  the  principle  of  the  ministry  be  established, 
it  will  not  be  by  quotations  from  Clement  and  Ig- 
natius, no  matter  how  conclusive  these  appear,  but 
by  demonstration  that  the  ministerial  principle  in- 
heres in  the  fundamental  principle  of  all.  Sacra- 
ments and  Apostolic  Succession  may  be  accepted,  if 
the  external  evidence  demand,  by  those  who  believe 
in  the  Divinity  of  Christ.  They  may  and  must  be 


The  Principle  of  Orders  115 

rejected  by  those  who  cannot  accept  this.  The  crux 
lies  there.  The  difficulties  about  them  are  in  ulti- 
mate analysis  difficulties  with  the  Incarnation  doc- 
trine itself.  In  the  great  crises  of  the  Church's  his- 
tory the  dividing-line  has  always  been  between  those 
who  vitally  believed,  and  those  who  practically  dis- 
believed, in  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation.  The 
same  thing  is  true  now.  Below  all  lesser  differences 
between  professing  Christians  of  every  name  and 
degree  is  the  basal  distinction  between  those  who 
do,  and  those  who  do  not,  apprehend  what  is  meant 
by  the  Divinity  of  Christ. 

It  is  by  no  means  true  that  all  who  reject  the 
historic  ministry  and  mystical  conception  of  the 
Church  reject  also  the  Divinity  of  our  Lord.  Some 
of  the  most  profound  believers  in,  and  defenders  of, 
the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity  are  to  be  found 
among  those  who  have  abandoned  the  historic 
Church.  It  is  true,  however,  that  modern  Church 
history  shows  a  constant  association  of  rejection  of 
the  historic  Church  with  rejection  of  the  historic 
theology ;  and  that  obj  ections  to  the  one  are  usually 
based  on  principles  which  apply  equally  to  the  other. 
The  special  point  here  urged  is  that  those  who  have 
made  the  presuppositions  necessary  for  belief  in  the 
Incarnation  have  made  also  the  presuppositions  nec- 
essary for  belief  in  a  mystical  and  sacramental 
Church.  It  does  not  follow  that  they  will  at  once 
accept  the  historic  ministry  as  inevitable  expression 
of  the  Church  principle ;  but  it  does  follow  that  they 
will  have  no  theoretical  objection  to  it.  What  they 
question  is  not  the  principle,  but  the  fact. 


116  Principles  of  Anglicanism 


The  future  is  likely  to  see  a  closer  drawing  to- 
gether in  all  ways  of  those  who  share  the  funda- 
mental conviction  that  "  the  Word  was  made  flesh 
and  dwelt  among  us,"  and  that  in  Him  we  have 
beheld  God's  Glory;  as  it  is  likely  also  to  see  a 
clearer  demonstration  that  many  who  in  form  hold 
to  the  ancient  faith  have  actually  ceased  to  hold  it 
in  practical  reality.  The  number  of  those  who,  from 
the  religious  standpoint,  must  be  classed  as  Unitari- 
ans, is  on  the  increase.  This  is  a  good  thing.  It 
means  that  men  are  finding  their  right  associations. 
The  great  Unitarians  have  been  good  examples  of 
people  who  know  where  they  do,  or  at  any  rate 
where  they  do  not,  stand;  who  are  intellectually 
clear-headed  in  seeing  discrepancies  between  formal 
professions  and  actual  convictions,  and  morally  ad- 
mirable in  ceasing  to  profess  what  they  have  ceased 
in  sincerity  to  hold.  Most  of  them  have  found  it 
impossible  longer  to  believe  in  miracle,  or  to  accept 
the  New  Testament  interpretation  of  the  meaning 
of  the  life  of  Jesus.  Yet  they  treasure  the  supreme 
ethical  revelation  of  perfect  humanity,  as  they  feel 
they  see  it  in  the  Gospels,  as  an  inspiring  though 
unrealised  ideal.  They  lay  great  stress  on  the  fun- 
damental postulate  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God;  and 
uphold  lofty  ideals  of  intellectual  honesty,  philan- 
thropy, and  culture.  This  is  not  an  ignoble  reli- 
gion, though  it  is  a  difficult  one;  since  they  are 
seeking  to  live  up  to  "  our  profession,  which  is  to  fol- 
low the  example  of  our  Saviour  Christ,  and  to  be 


The  Principle  of  Orders  117 

made  like  unto  Him,"  without  support  of  the  be- 
lief which  alone  sanctions  acceptance  of  His  author- 
ity, and  which  offers  promise  that  aspirations  to  be 
like  Him  can  be  realised.  It  represents  a  more  stu- 
pendous venture  of  faith  than  is  exhibited  by  those 
who  accept  the  New  Testament  grounds  for  making 
the  venture;  and  for  this  reason  it  has  a  pathetic 
moral  grandeur,  but  more  and  more  does  it  become 
dogmatically  indefinite. 

Unitarians  scrupulously  avoid  committing  them- 
selves to  more  than  a  few  generalities,  leave  room  for 
all  varieties  of  opinions  and  practice,  and  profess 
no  form  of  organisation  other  than  temporary  asso- 
ciation for  convenience.  Dr.  Martineau  once  wrote 
to  a  friend  :*  "  There  is  no  such  denomination  as 
'  the  Unitarian  body  ' ;  if  there  was,  I  should  not  for 
an  hour  belong  to  it.  There  are  a  number  of  wor- 
shipping societies  in  which  the  majority,  or  the 
whole,  of  the  members — it  may  be  permanently,  it 
may  be  for  a  time — have  ceased  to  be  Trinitarian; 
but  the  extent  of  their  deviation  from  the  old  the- 
ology is  ef  every  variety ;  and  it  is  wholly  undefined  by 
accepted  or  unaccepted  formulas  and  is  in  no  sense, 
beyond  that  of  natural  sympathy,  a  condition  of 
membership  or  communion."  In  other  words,  it  is 
permissible  to  believe  a  great  deal,  so  long  as  fulness 
of  faith  is  regarded  merely  as  individual  privilege 
or  idiosyncrasy;  it  is  permissible  to  believe  little  or 
nothing,  so  long  as  one  does  not  negatively  dogma- 
tise. The  one  principle  is  that  of  studious  vague- 

1  William  Knight,  Inter  Arnicas. 


118  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

ness;  and  an  indefinite  hope  is  studiously  kept  aloof 
from  any  sort  of  supernatural  sanction.  Most  Uni- 
tarians consistently  hold  to  this  undogmatic  posi- 
tion ;  and  it  is  they  only  who  are  true  representatives 
of  an  undogmatic  or  undenominational  religion. 

The  religion  of  the  Gospels,  on  the  contrary,  is 
definite.  It  affirms  that  the  instinctive  hopes  of  hu- 
manity have  found  corroboration  in  historic  events, 
and  appeals  to  these  as  grounds  for  confidence,  and 
as  exemplars  for  thought  and  will.  Men  wish  to 
believe  in  God  as  Love.  The  relentless  course  of  the 
physical  universe,  and  the  disorder  in  the  moral  uni- 
verse, seem  to  deny  the  wish.  Christianity  points  to 
a  definite  fact  as  support  for  this  natural  craving. 
"  In  this  was  the  love  of  God  manifested  that  He 
gave  His  only-begotten  Son."  Men  wish  to  see  some 
explanation  of  the  problem  of  pain.  "  He  suffered 
and  was  buried."  They  wish  to  believe  in  immor- 
tality. "  On  the  third  day  He  rose  again  from  the 
dead.19  So  for  the  whole  round  of  its  dogmas.  The 
historic  religion,  which  has  been  responsible  for  the 
great  historic  consequences,  springs  directly  from 
historic  facts.  To  abandon  these  facts  is  to  aban- 
don the  foundation  of  actual  Christianity,  and  to 
revert  from  positive  dogmas  of  hope  to  negative 
dogmas  which,  if  scrutinised,  preclude  hope.  The 
religion  of  the  Gospels,  however  conscious  of  limita- 
tion from  the  fact  that  "  now  we  see  through  a  glass 
darkly,"  asserts  that  for  definite  reasons  in  past 
history  and  present  experience  we  have  definite  be- 
liefs and  expectations.  "  We  know  that  the  Son 
of  God  is  come,  and  hath  given  us  an  understanding 


The  Principle  of  Orders  119 

that  we  may  know  Him  that  is  true,  and  that  we  are  in 
Him  that  is  true,  even  in  His  Son,  Jesus  Christ.  This 
is  the  true  God  and  eternal  life."  These  definite  be- 
liefs, based  on  definite  grounds,  are  capable  of  defi- 
nite statement,  such  as  is  given  in  the  Creeds,  and 
susceptible  of  definite  application,  such  as  is  given 
in  the  Sacraments  and  Ministry  of  the  Church.  A 
degree  of  definiteness  is  everywhere  characteristic 
of  Gospel  Christianity;  and  to  avoid  definiteness  in 
belief  and  statement  is  to  repudiate  a  Christian  qual- 
ity. Much  harm  has  been  done  by  carrying  the 
desire  for  definiteness  too  far,  by  striving  to  be  wise 
beyond  what  is  written,  and  by  dogmatising  upon 
insufficient  grounds.  There  is,  however,  a  contrary 
danger  to  which  we  are  more  exposed,  of  ignoring 
conclusions  which  may  unhesitatingly  be  derived  from 
our  accepted  premises. 

Dr.  Fairbairn  once  said  in  commenting  on  the 
controversies  of  the  fifth  century,  "  The  Nestorian 
Christ  is  the  natural  Saviour  of  the  Pelagian  man." 
The  two  heresies  dovetailed.  The  Pelagian  man  is 
one  who  by  his  innate  powers  is  perfectly  able  to 
work  out  his  own  salvation  without  intervention  of 
Divine  grace.  For  such  a  man  a  perfect  human 
example  is  a  helpful  stimulus;  and  in  his  youth  he 
needs  a  teacher :  but  he  stands  in  no  need  of  the  sort 
of  spiritual  sustenance  which  is  implied  in  Christian 
sacraments.  The  Nestorian  Christ  is  merely  the 
greatest  of  the  prophets,  teaching  with  special  au- 
thority from  God  and  showing  by  His  life  what 
human  nature  can  and  ought  to  be.  It  is  natural, 
therefore,  for  any  one  whose  doctrine  of  humanity 


120          Principles  of  Anglicanism 

is  that  of  Pelagius  to  hold  a  Christology  which  is 
practically  that  of  Nestorius.  To  one  who  feels  no 
need,  and  sees  no  need,  of  a  Divine  Redeemer  the  un- 
necessary is  also  the  incredible;  and  with  perfect 
consistency  he  can  follow  Nestorius  rather  than  St. 
Paul  or  St.  John.  A  merely  human  teacher  is  all 
that  is  needed  by  a  self-sufficient  humanity.  These 
forms  of  thought  perpetually  recur  in  new  guises. 
Those  who  exalt  the  possibilities  of  human  nature 
indefinitely,  see  no  need  of  the  Incarnation  of  God, 
either  for  purposes  of  revelation  or  for  purposes  of 
salvation.  They,  therefore,  reject  the  salient  fea- 
tures of  the  Gospel,  although  willing  to  retain  some 
features  of  the  Gospel  story  for  their  noble  asso- 

fciations  and  their  helpful  suggestiveness.  But  the 
root  of  repudiation  of  the  old  doctrine  lies  in  ina- 
bility to  feel  man's  dependence  upon  Divine  grace. 

Our  theories  of  our  own  nature  and  of  our  per- 
sonal relation  to  God  determine  our  theories  concern- 
ing Christ;  and  they  also,  both  directly  and  reflex- 
ively,  determine  our  theories  concerning  the  Church. 
The  Pelagian  man  is  the  natural  organiser  of  con- 
gregational churches:  that  is,  voluntary  associations 
of  men,  free  to  choose  such  beliefs  and  church-order 
as  they  see  fit;  and,  moreover,  these  congregational 
churches  are  the  only  organisations  that  are  needed 
for  the  propagation  of  faith  in  a  Nestorian  or  Uni- 
tarian Christ.  Modern  democratic  and  critical 
methods  may  deal  as  they  choose  with  an  ancient 
prophet  and  philanthropist;  and  if  this  be  an  ex- 
haustive description  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  churches 
need  only  be  such  societies  as  we  see  fit  to  form 


The  Principle  of  Orders  121 

from  time  to  time  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  or 
applying  any  part  of  His  teaching.  Lowell,  in  the 
Biglow  Papers,  gives  an  apt  illustration  of  the  at- 
titude toward  the  Gospel,  which  may  rightly  be 
assumed  from  the  standpoint  of  mere  humanitarian 
doctrine : 

"  Parson  Wilbur  says  Tie  never  heard  in  his  life 
That  apostles,  rigged  up  in  their  swaller-tailed  coats, 
Marched  around  at  the  back  of  a  drum  and  fife, 
Some  looking  for  office,  and  others  for  votes  ; 
But  John  P. 
Robinson,  lie 
Says  they  didn't  know  everything  down  in  Judee." 

Mr.  Robinson's  attitude  is  perfectly  justified  if  the 
Apostles  were  merely  fellow-citizens  whom  he  wculd 
have  met  on  an  equality,  and  have  given  fair  play, 
in  a  town-meeting;  and  whose  leader  himself  could 
have  claimed  no  other  footing,  even  though  his  char- 
acter and  reputation  were  such  as  to  mark  him  out 
for  the  chairmanship  of  important  committees.  If 
Jesus  Christ  were  only  on  a  par  with  John  the  Bap- 
tist, Jeremias,  and  other  of  the  prophets,  we  can 
only  regard  him  as  a  venerable  figure  in  the  past 
who  must  of  necessity  yield  to  men  of  the  present. 

But  it  is  all  changed  if  our  presupposition  be  that 
of  St.  Peter,  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
Living  God."  That  presupposition  of  faith  in  His 
Godhead  gives  foundation  for  a  Church  of  entirely 
different  character.  To  one  who  has  mystical  con- 
ceptions of  our  Lord's  Person  and  his  own  nature, 
the  mystical  Church  with  its  mystical  life  and  rites 


122  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

is  not  only  a  possibility  but  a  necessity.  Robert  E. 
Speer  has  said  somewhere  that  "  our  loyalty  to  the 
mission  is  the  measure  of  our  judgment  of  the  Son 
of  God."  That  exactly  illustrates  the  principle. 
Our  loyalty  to  the  Church  which  discharges  the  great 
missionary  responsibility,  and  to  the  ministry  which 
forms  an  integral  part  of  that  Church,  is  measured 
by  the  judgment  we  make  of  Him  who  is  the  Church's 
Head.  The  special  point  here  urged  is  that  doctrme 
of  the  Church,  and  policies  for  the  Church,  have  in- 
evitably a  Theological  context.  From  this  they  can- 
not be  separated ;  and  this  it  is  which  gives  them  dis- 
tinctive character.  In  discussions  concerning  the 
Church  this  context  must  always  be  involved;  and 
any  consideration  which  ignores  it  is  bound  to  be 
superficial. 

We  stand  at  a  parting  of  ways  with  strong  in- 
ducements to  follow  either  path.  There  is  a  per- 
suasive claim  that  the  primitive  form  of  Christianity 
is  no  longer  tenable;  that  the  religion  of  the  future 
must  cut  adrift  from  obsolete  forms  of  thought  and 
practice,  which  prevent  its  progress.  Strong  rea- 
sons are  alleged  to  support  the  position.  A  mighty 
tendency  in  modern  life  is  forging  further  and 
further  away  from  any  serious  regard  for  the  miracu- 
lous; and  the  New  Testament  has  no  message  of 
much  import  for  those  who  yield  to  it.  There  is 
a  mighty  appeal  in  the  call  to  break  with  a  cramping 
past  and  throw  oneself  blindly  but  hopefully  into 
what  claims  for  itself  the  future.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  those  who  see  that  the  only  Christianity 
which  can  long  survive  is  the  earliest  of  all,  which 


The  Principle  of  Orders  123 

still  has  for  them  its  ancient  spell;  and  who  believe 
that  the  simple  principles  of  early  days  are  to  re^ 
ceive  stronger  and  clearer  expression.  It  seems  not 
unlikely  that  lesser  lines  of  division  between  Chris- 
tians will  become  obscured ;  and  that  those  who  bear 
the  name  will  gravitate  more  and  more  into  two 
great  camps :  on  the  one  side  those  who  hold  tena- 
ciously to  the  apostolic  norm;  on  the  other,  those 
who  make  only  eclectic  use  of  Gospel  teaching  for 
illustration  of  a  composite  religion,  which  affirms 
but  a  few  basal  truths,  and  yet  ranges  widely  in  its 
effort  to  draw  from  all  the  wisdom  of  the  world. 
If  this  happen,  it  will  be  evident  that,  both  in  pre- 
suppositions and  in  conclusions,  the  two  parties  are 
poles  asunder. 

The  immediate  future  is  likely  to  demonstrate  in 
which  direction  our  own  Church  is  moving ;  and  that 
move  one  way  or  the  other  it  must.  It  occupies  a 
middle  position  in  Christendom,  and  hopes  to  use 
this  position  to  mediate  for  unity.  In  our  desire  to 
show  "  malice  toward  none  and  charity  for  all," 
we  have  been  loth  to  emphasise  differences.  We  have 
gloried  in  our  duality  to  the  very  verge  of  duplicity ; 
we  have  habitually  halted  between  two  opinions,  and 
have  shown  unmistakable  symptoms  of  the  ailment  of 
Laodicsea.  Yet  we  must  declare  ourselves  plainly, 
if  we  be  challenged  to  choose  between  the  old  and  a 
new  not  akin  to  the  old.  A  choice  not  only  of 
critical,  but  of  vital,  importance  lies  before  us  in 
the  consideration  of  what  we  believe,  what  we  main- 
tain, and  what  we  abandon,  in  our  theories  of  the 
Christian  ministry;  for  belief  about  Orders  involves 


124  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

belief  about  Sacrameirts ;  and  belief  about  Sacra- 
ments, belief  about  the  Church;  and  that  belief  re- 
solves itself  into  the  answer  we  give  to  the  one  de- 
cisive, discriminating  question  of  questions :  "  What 
think  ye  of  Christ?  Whose  Son  is  He?  " 


THE  ACHIEVEMENTS  AND 
FAILURES  OF  PROTESTANTISM 


THE  ACHIEVEMENTS  AND  FAILURES 
OF  PROTESTANTISM  x 

THE  positive  strength  of  the  religious  movement 
known  as  the  Protestant  Reformation  lies  in  its 
insistence  on  religious  individualism.  This  principle 
was  taught  in  the  first  stage  of  the  evolution  of 
revealed  religion,  which  culminated  in  the  Incarna- 
tion of  the  Son  of  God.  This,  it  appears,  gives  spe- 
cial significance  to  the  call  and  training  of  Abraham. 
"  At  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  religion  in  the 
Bible,  a  history  in  which  men  were  to  be  variously 
dealt  with,  as  corporate  societies  as  well  as  indi- 
vidual persons,  in  its  front  and  on  its  threshold,  is 
the  type  and  figure  of  the  religious  man.  Abraham 
was  to  be  the  example  to  us  all,  the  great  instance 
of  that  faith  without  which  there  can  be  no  com- 
munion between  man  and  his  God,  the  faith  which 
realises  God,  and  what  God  is.  ...  This  is  the 
first  lesson  of  the  masters  of  the  spiritual  life.  This 

1  The  name  "  Protestantism "  is  used  in  its  most  general 
sense,  as  synonym  for  the  general  influence  which  has  deter- 
mined the  character  and  history  both  of  those  aspects  of  reli- 
gious development  which  may  be  traced  directly  to  the  Ref- 
ormation and  of  others  strongly,  though  less  directly,  affected 
by  it. 

127 


128  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

is  the  first  awakening  to  the  reality  of  religion,  when 
it  comes  to  us  in  our  heart  of  hearts,  in  the  cer- 
tainties of  conscience,  that  in  spite  of  all  that  fills 
the  eye  and  is  not  ourselves,  there  is  ourself ,  and  there 
is  God ;  '  God  is  God,  and  I  am  I ;'  and  '  we  begin 
by  degrees,'  as  it  has  been  said,  '  to  perceive  that 
there  are  but  two  beings  in  the  whole  universe — two 
only  supreme  and  luminously  self-evident  beings — 
our  own  soul,  and  the  God  Who  made  it.' ' 

That  first  lesson  of  religion  had  not  been  for- 
gotten, but  had  been  woefully  obscured,  by  the  Chris- 
tian Church  in  the  later  Middle  Ages.  The  Church 
and  Church  system  were  popularly  regarded  as  be- 
ginning and  end  of  everything;  and  to  yield  unques- 
tioning obedience  to  established  ecclesiastical  con- 
ventions was  all  that  was  required  or  desired.  Quite 
apart  from  abuses  in  the  existing  system,  there  was 
lack  of  proportion  in  things  religious ;  the  corporate 

i Church:  Discipline  of  the  Christian  Character,  pp.  18-21. 
"  At  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible, 
a  history  in  which  men  were  to  be  variously  dealt  with,  as  cor- 
porate societies  as  well  as  individual  persons,  in  its  front  and 
on  its  threshold,  is  the  type  and  figure  of  the  religious  man. 
Abraham  was  to  be  the  example  to  us  all,  the  great  instance 
of  that  faith,  without  which  there  can  be  no  communion  be- 
tween man  and  his  God,  the  faith  which  realises  God,  and  what 
God  is.  Abraham  stands  before  us  in  the  Old  Testament  and 
in  the  New  as  'the  friend  of  God.'  Abraham  stands  before 
us  equally  in  both  as  the  '  father  of  us  all.'  Of  him  was  spoken 
by  the  mouth  of  Jesus  Christ  that  mysterious  praise,  'Your 
father  Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  My  day,  and  he  saw  it  and 
was  glad.'  And  his  history  is  marked  as  the  history  of  a  man, 
a  soul,  by  itself  in  relation  to  Almighty  God;  not  as  one  of 
a  company,  a  favoured  brotherhood,  or  chosen  body,  but  in  all 


Protestantism  129 

principle  had  crushed  and  stifled  the  individual  prin- 
ciple; the  Church  on  earth  was  largely  regarded  as 
an  end  in  itself,  rather  than  as  appointed  means  of 
bringing  souls  in  touch  with  God.  Popular  religion 
had  resolved  itself  into  externalism.  Religious 
thought  was  shallow ;  morality  was  superficial.  Even 
in  those  quarters  in  which  men  were  trying  most 
zealously  to  serve  God,  there  was  little  more  than 
a  correct  ecclesiasticism,  which  had  lost  all  appre- 
hension of  the  sort  of  spiritual  struggle  and  stern 
earnestness  which  made  the  life  of  the  prophets  or 
of  St.  Paul.  The  highest  types  of  religious  develop- 
ment, ethical  and  intellectual, — and  there  were  very 
high  and  admirable  examples, — fell  obviously  short 
of  the  types  discoverable  in  the  New  Testament  and 
in  the  earlier  ages  of  the  Church.  It  is  not  true 
that  the  Church  was  wholly  and  hopelessly  corrupt; 
it  is  not  true  that  Christianity  was  dead:  it  is  true 

his  doings  single  and  alone,  alone  with  the  Alone,  one  with 
One,  with  his  Maker,  as  he  was  born,  and  as  he  dies,  alone: 
the  individual  soul,  standing  all  by  itself,  in  the  presence  of 
its  Author  and  Sustainer,  called  by  Him  and  answering  to 
His  call,  choosing,  acting,  obeying,  from  the  last  depths  and 
secrets  of  its  being;  feeling,  confessing  His  awful  and  un- 
searchable righteousness.  .  .  .  Thus  early  was  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  the  religious  character,  the  character  which  was  to 
grow  up  into  'the  mind  of  Christ.'  In  our  mysterious  being 
we  have  a  double  existence;  we  are  part  of  a  body,  and  God 
deals  with  men  collectively  as  communities;  yet  also  we  are 
as  much  single  spirits  as  if  we  were  alone  in  the  world,  each 
running  separately  and  apart  his  individual  course.  To  teach 
men  from  the  first  the  awful,  the  difficult  truth,  that  they 
have  each  of  them  a  soul — this  was  the  meaning  of  that  dis- 
cipline of  Abraham  and  the  Patriarchs;  and  the  whole  history 


130  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

that  there  was  widespread  deterioration,  and  that 
Christianity  was  deadly  dull.  The  general  fault  was 
that  the  Church  had  drifted  away  from  the  truth 
that  religion  means  personal  consciousness  of  God, 
that  Christianity  means  personal  union  with  Christ, 
that  membership  in  Christ's  Church  is  intended  to 
deepen  the  sense  of  needing  personal  conversion,  and 
must  issue  in  personal  holiness.  Too  much  had  the 
Church  and  Church  system  been  made  a  substitute 
for  the  Person  and  direct  activities  of  our  Lord;  so 
that  what  was  designed  to  bring  closest  union  with 
Him  was  so  used  as  to  be  a  sort  of  barrier.  What 
was  most  needed  was  a  revival  of  individual,  personal 
faith.  This  was  precisely  what  the  Protestant  Ref- 
ormation sought  to  bring.  Luther  was  not  the  only 
one  who  believed  in  the  crying  need  of  teaching 
Justification  by  Faith.  Cardinal  Reginald  Pole 
writing  to  Cardinal  Contarini,  who  had  emphasised 

of  religion  has  shown  how  necessary  it  was.  The  visible  world 
is  all  about  us,  early  and  late,  wrapping  us  round,  occupying 
eye  and  thought  and  desire;  we  seem  to  belong  to  it,  and  to 
it  alone;  it  seems  as  if  we  must  take  our  chance  with  it.  And 
on  the  other  hand  we  know  how  easily  men  come  to  think  that 
being  one  of  a  body — even  though  it  were  the  '  seed  of  Abra- 
ham,' or  'the  Church  of  Christ' — makes  it  less  necessary  to 
remember  their  personal  singleness,  their  personal  responsi- 
bility. To  belong  to  a  good  set,  to  a  religious  family,  seems 
to  give  us  a  security  for  ourselves;  insensibly,  perhaps,  we  take 
to  ourselves  credit  for  the  goodness  of  our  friends;  we  look  at 
ourselves  as  if  we  must  be  what  they  are.  The  soul  has  indeed 
to  think  and  to  work  with  others,  and  for  others,  and  for 
great  aims  and  purposes,  out  of  and  beyond  itself.  For  others 
and  with  others  the  best  part  of  its  earthly  work  is  done.  But, 
first,  the  soul  has  to  know  that  sublime  truth  about  itself:  that 


Protestantism  131 

this  same  doctrine  in  his  letters,  said,  "  You  have 
brought  to  light  the  jewel  which  the  Church  hath 
kept  half -concealed."  Nor  was  Luther  the  only  one 
who  thought  that  the  Church  could  no  longer  be 
brought  to  a  proper  sense  of  what  its  faith  should 
be  in  constitutional  and  conventional  ways.  A  Do- 
minican monk,  writing  about  the  time  of  Luther's 
birth,  expressed  an  opinion  not  uncommon  among 
serious-minded  people :  "  The  world  cries  for  a  Coun- 
cil; but  how  can  one  be  obtained  in  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  heads  of  the  Church?  No  human  power 
avails  any  longer  to  reform  the  Church  through  a 
Council.  God  Himself  must  come  to  our  aid  in  some 
way  now  unknown  to  us." 

The  Protestant  Reformation  was  a  revolution ;  but 
it  came  at  a  time  when  only  revolutionary  methods 
would  accomplish  necessary  results.  It  succeeded 
in  gaining  new  recognition  of  the  principle  of  faith; 

it  stands  before  the  Everlasting  by  itself,  and  for  what  it  is. 
Abraham  learned  it,  like  Moses,  like  Elijah,  like  Isaiah,  like 
St.  Paul;  in  Job  and  the  Psalter  we  see  the  early  fruits  of 
that  discipline.  The  soul  knew  itself  alone  with  God;  no  words 
could  tell  the  incommunicable  secret  of  the  presence  of  God; 
and  in  that  secret  was  wrapped  up  the  seed  of  its  conviction 
of  its  own  mysterious  immortality — *  God  is  not  the  God  of  the 
dead,  but  of  the  living.'  This  is  the  first  lesson  of  the  masters 
of  the  spiritual  life.  This  is  the  first  awakening  to  the  reality 
of  religion,  when  it  comes  to  us  in  our  heart  of  hearts,  in  the 
certainties  of  conscience,  that  in  spite  of  all  that  fills  the  eye 
and  is  not  ourselves,  there  is  ourself,  and  there  is  God;  'God 
is  God,  and  I  am  I ' ;  and  *  we  begin  by  degrees,'  as  it  has  been 
said,  'to  perceive  that  there  are  but  two  beings  in  the  whole 
universe — two  only  supreme  and  luminously  self-evident  beings 
— our  own  soul  and  the  God  who  made  it.' " 


132  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

but  from  the  beginning  this  religious  individualism 
followed  two  lines  of  development,  which  were  always 
distinct  and  often  in  conflict,  Evangelicanism  and 
Rationalism.  They  were  combined  in  Luther.  Both 
had  positive  force  and  needed  fresh  recognition; 
both  were  susceptible  of  one-sided  expression  and 
received  it.  The  evangelical  principle  is  merely  the 
prime  requisite  of  individual  conversion  to  God, 
faith  resulting  in  personal  piety  and  devotion,  the 
cultivation  of  the  individual  conscience,  and  its  pro- 
tection from  ecclesiastical,  or  other  social,  tyranny. 
It  is  the  old  lesson  of  becoming  conscious  of  God 
and  myself.  The  rationalistic  principle  is  on  its 
positive  side,  primarily,  the  necessity  of  individual 
apprehension  of  religious  truth,  and,  secondarily,  the 
necessity  of  testing  Christian  truth  by  constant  ref- 
erence to  its  Source.  Tradition  must  be  tested  by 
reference  to  final  authority.  Christianity  can  only 
be  kept  pure  by  conformity  to  the  New  Testament 
norm.  In  the  sixteenth  century  there  was  much 
provocation  to  revolt  from  an  unwarranted 
dogmatism.  There  was  need  not  only  of  teaching 
justifying  faith,  but  also  of  emphasising  the  unique 
authority  of  the  Christian  Scriptures. 

In  teaching  Faith  and  the  Bible  the  Protestant 
Reformers  did  useful  and  necessary  work.  They 
proclaimed  noble  and  truly  Christian  ideals. 
Luther's  ideal  of  the  sinful  soul  clinging  simply  to 
the  Cross  is  humanly  and  Scripturally  true;  the 
Puritan  ideal  of  the  sturdy  God-fearing  man  fash- 
ioning his  life  after  the  Scriptural  pattern  is  truly 
Christian;  the  ideal  of  resolute  adherence  to  Gospel 


Protestantism  133 

simplicities  in  defiance  of  disguising  ecclesiastical 
traditions  represents  a  constitutional  principle  of 
the  Church  of  the  first  days.  On  the  whole,  the 
Protestant  Reformation  in  the  sixteenth  century 
was  beneficial.  It  may  easily  be  shown  that  the 
strongest  forces  in  Christianity  to-day  are  directly, 
or  indirectly,  due  to  its  influence.  It  has  produced 
the  most  virile  types  of  religion  in  the  modern  world ; 
and  it  has  by  lateral  pressure  and  reaction  effected 
beneficial  changes  in  the  religious  systems  which  it 
sought  to  supersede.  It  has  contributed  largely  to 
the  vigour  and  happiness  of  the  peoples  who  have 
been  nurtured  by  it  by  infusing  a  new  enthusiasm 
for  human  life.  This  has  been  true  even  among  Cal- 
vinists,  whose  practical  efforts  to  secure  solid  com- 
fort have  never  conformed  to  the  discomfort  of  their 
professed  principles.  It  is  always  necessary  to  con- 
sider the  general  tendencies,  as  distinct  from  the 
formed  theories,  of  any  movement  in  order  to  esti- 
mate its  influence  and  the  reasons  for  its  appeal  to 
popular  enthusiasm.  There  are  two  tendencies  char- 
acteristic of  the  Protestant  Reformation  which  go 
far  to  explain  its  power.  The  first  is  its  humani- 
tarian tendency,  which  appealed  strongly  to  the 
common-sense  of  Germany;  and  the  second,  more 
prominently  developed  in  the  history  of  Calvinism, 
its  encouragement  of  the  spirit  of  democracy. 

As  against  monastic  ideals,  which  disparaged 
and  held  aloof  from  common  life  and  the  enjoyment 
of  life's  good  things,  Protestantism,  especially  in 
its  Lutheran  form,  exalted  an  ideal  of  homely  do- 
mestic purity  and  happiness.  As  Dr.  Jacobs  has 


134  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

noted,  "  the  prevalent  character  of  the  Christian  life 
nourished  by  the  Lutheran  faith  is  humble,  devout, 
unobtrusive,  joyous,  buoyant.  All  good  things  of 
this  life  that  come  according  to  God's  calling  and  in 
His  order  are  gratefully  received  and  cheerfully 
used,  in  order  that  God  may  be  glorified  in  the  Chris- 
tian's enjoyment  of  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual 
things."  The  ideal  of  a  comfortable  and  cheerful 
religion  appealed  not  only  to  the  spirit  which  shirked 
the  rigours  of  discipline,  but  also  to  the  funda- 
mental consciousness  of  human  nature  that  it  is  God- 
given  and  God-like,  not  to  be  treated  as  wholly  sin- 
ful and  worthless,  as  monasticism  seemed  to  imply. 
There  was  a  discrepancy  between  Protestant  theory 
and  Protestant  practice.  Lutheranism  no  less  than 
Calvinism  taught  the  doctrine  of  the  total  depravity 
of  human  nature  in  an  extreme  form.  As  against 
the  unnaturalness  of  Protestant  doctrine  concerning 
man,  the  scholastic  doctrine  and  refined  culture  of 
fifteenth-century  monasteries  offered  refreshing  con- 
trasts. Yet  in  spite  of  this  is  it  true  that  the  general 
influence  of  Protestantism  tended  to  exalt  concep- 
tions of  the  beauty  and  holiness  of  ordinary  human 
life  and  to  deepen  the  religious  tone  of  the  home, 
whereas  the  general  influence  of  monastic  ideals, 
prevailing  in  Christendom  for  well-nigh  ten  centu- 
ries prior  to  the  Reformation,  was  mainly  in  the 
other  direction.  Thought  and  practice  typically 
monastic  were  to  a  great  extent  superseded  by 
thought  and  practice  typically  domestic.  The  chief 
example  of  change  appeared  in  the  advocacy  of  a 
married  in  place  of  a  celibate  clergy. 


Protestantism  135 

In  the  second  place,  insistence  on  individual  right 
and  worth  inevitably  led  to  fuller  considerations  of 
the  rights  and  worth  of  individuals  belonging  to  the 
humbler  ranks  of  society,  and  gave  to  these  indi- 
viduals a  new  sense  of  their  own  proper  dignity  and 
importance.  This  naturally  led  to  efforts  at  social 
betterment,  which  have  resulted  in  the  great  demo- 
cratic movements  of  the  present  epoch.  Calvinism 
in  particular  has  been  a  great  democratic  force,  and 
has  counted  for  much  in  raising  the  standards  of 
popular  education  and  improvement  of  the  condition 
of  the  less-favored  classes.  The  connection  of  Prot- 
estantism and  Democracy  as  mutual  cause  and  effect 
has  been  a  close  one;  and  the  influence  and  strength 
of  Protestantism  are  largely  accounted  for  and  best 
explained,  when  it  is  accurately  related  to  the  modern 
tendencies  which  make  for  popular  development  and 
popular  self-government.  As  the  characteristic  re- 
ligious product  of  modern  times,  it  must,  to  be 
rightly  estimated,  be  defined  in  terms  of  the  modern 
spirit.  Not  everything  modern  is  the  best,  nor  is 
everything  modern  certain  long  to  survive;  yet  it  is 
reasonable  to  assume  that  everything  distinctly  mod- 
ern has  a  good  deal  to  say  for  itself.  As  a  broad 
generalisation,  it  is  certainly  true  that,  taken  as  a 
whole,  Protestantism  has  been  the  strongest  religious 
influence  active  during  the  last  three  hundred  years. 


It  is  not  true,  however,  that  it  has  proven  an 
unmixed  blessing;  nor  is  it  true  that,  so  far  as  we 
can  forecast  the  future,  it  is  certain  that  it  will 


136  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

dominate  the  next  three  centuries  as  it  has  the  past 
three.  In  the  nature  of  things  it  is  time  to  expect 
some  new  revival  which  will  build  up  itself  on  the 
fragments  of  an  obsolescent  past.  Review  of  the 
last  age  of  the  Church  shows  plainly  that  Protes- 
tantism has  not  been  free  from  radical  one-sidedness ; 
nor  has  its  influence  been  invariably  for  good.  It 
has  had  the  defects  of  its  virtues,  and  has  had  to 
pay  the  penal  consequences  of  its  vices.  Along  cer- 
tain lines  it  has  been  manifestly  successful;  along 
others  it  has  led  to  conspicuous  failure.  Its  limita- 
tions have  been  due  to  unguarded  emphasis  upon  that 
side  of  truth  which  it  seemed  its  special  function 
to  teach;  and  the  consequences  of  the  unguarded 
emphasis  have  been  often  disastrous. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  its  insistence  on  the  need  of 
individual  conversion,  individual  apprehension  of  the 
meaning  of  union  with  Christ,  has  often  led  to  an 
unbalanced  emotionalism.  Starting  from  recogni- 
tion that  genuine  Christianity  involves  direct  and 
conscious  response  of  the  living  soul  to  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Spirit  of  the  Living  God,  laying  hold  of 
the  evangelical  principle  that  individual  salvation 
comes  by  individual  faith,  it  has  often  identified  re- 
ligion with  individual  eccentricity  in  such  a  way  as 
to  caricature  and  contradict  the  genuine  evangelical 
spirit.  Justification  by  faith  has  sometimes  been  in- 
terpreted as  justification  by  hysterics! 

In  Luther  himself  first  appeared  unbalanced  state- 
ments concerning  faith,  which  distorted  the  Pauline 
doctrine  of  Justification.  In  his  insistence  on  the 
primal  necessity  of  faith,  he  violently  repudiated 


Protestantism  137 

both  "  works  "  and  "  reason."  «  It  is  by  faith  sole," 
he  said,  "  not  by  faith  perfected  by  love,  that  we 
are  justified."  Or  again:  "It  is  a  quality  of  faith 
that  it  wrings  the  neck  of  reason,  and  strangles  the 
beast,  which  else  the  whole  world  with  all  creatures 
could  not  strangle.  .  .  .  All  faithful  men  who  en- 
ter with  Abraham  the  gloom  and  hidden  darkness  of 
faith  .  .  .  strangle  reason  and  offer  to  God  the 
acceptablest  sacrifice  that  can  ever  be  brought  to 
him."  Or,  as  Canon  Mozley  paraphrases  some  of 
his  language :  "  Believe  that  you  are  absolved,  and 
you  are  absolved — was  his  teaching  as  a  priest  be- 
fore he  broke  from  the  Church;  never  mind  whether 
you  deserve  absolution  or  no.  He  that  believes  is 
better  than  he  that  deserves.  Always  be  sure  that 
you  are  pleasing  God;  if  you  are  sure  you  are,  you 
are.  Feel  yourself  safe;  if  you  feel  yourself  safe, 
you  are  safe."  Teaching  like  this  led  to  several  un- 
desirable results.  Disparagement  of  "  works  "  led 
to  antinomianism,  which  in  extreme  cases,  such  as 
those  of  the  Zwickau  Prophets  and  the  Kingdom  of 
the  New  Jerusalem  at  Munster,  issued  in  gross  and 
flagrant  immorality ;  disparagement  of  "  reason " 
led  to  an  irrational  emotionalism,  which  led  rational 
men  wholly  to  despise  the  religion  which  it  professed 
to  represent;  the  unnatural  divorce  between  faith 
and  love,  motive  and  acts,  has  led  to  anarchy  in  the 
realm  of  ethics,  especially  in  the  notorious  casuistry 
of  the  Jesuits,  for  which  Luther  is  in  large  part  re- 
sponsible. "  The  end  justifies  the  means  "  is  only 
"  justification  by  faith  only  "  in  another  form.  Mr. 
Gladstone  pointed  out  that  "  Jesuitism  was  only 


138  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

rendered  possible  by  the  Reformation ;  it  was  by  re- 
flex action  the  Reformation's  child."  "The  Ref- 
ormation consisted  in  bringing  into  prominence  the 
subjective  element  in  religion  in  counterpoise  to  the 
undue  prominence  previously  given  the  objective.  If 
the  immediate  effect  of  this  was  to  revive  personal 
religion,  its  ultimate  effect  was  often  to  exalt  con- 
sciousness and  a  good  purpose  above  truth  and 
right  action.  In  the  Reformers  this  showed  itself 
in  a  readiness  to  abandon  the  old  faith,  and  change 
much  that  was  good  through  fear  of  that  which 
was  bad,  and  in  extreme  cases  to  make  faith  a  sub- 
stitute for  a  holy  life;  in  the  Jesuits  it  led  to  subtle 
distinctions  and  casuistical  avoidance  of  the  conse- 
quences of  truths  which  they  professed  to  accept. 
The  Jesuit  doctrine  of  '  intention  '  is  well  known, 
and  their  readiness  to  do  evil  that  good  may  come 
is  the  logical  corollary  of  that  doctrine.  They  were 
connected  with  the  Reformation  spirit,  .  .  .  not 
indeed  as  logical  and  necessary  consequence,  but  as 
an  exaggerated  and  one-sided  development."  1  Anti- 
nomianism  and  emotionalism  are  different  things; 
but  in  religious  history  they  have  had  close  connec- 
tion in  cause  and  in  fact.  The  wild  lawlessness  of 
Munster  belongs  to  a  different  category  from  the 
hysterical  fervour  of  negro  revivals;  yet  both  have 
root  in  an  exaggerated  emphasis  on  feeling,  which 
leads  emotion  to  ignore  the  restraints  both  of  reason 
and  of  conscience.  Both  are  results  of  senseless  ex- 
citement and  are  as  far  as  possible  from  the  normal 

1  Moore:  History  of  the  Reformation,  p.  16. 


Protestantism  189 

consequences  of  the  exercise  of  emotion  in  religion. 
In  all  genuine  Christianity  the  heart  is  touched ;  but 
it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  it  can  dispense  with 
the  head.  The  results  of  the  deepest  religious  feel- 
ing, as  illustrated  by  the  lives  of  those  who  are  the 
best  specimens  of  Christian  discipleship,  are  humility 
and  soberness.  These  virtues  have  not  been  con- 
spicuously displayed  by  those  whose  only  religion 
was  Protestantism.  They  were  better  exemplified  in 
mediaeval  monasteries.  While  it  must  never  be  for- 
gotten that  apprehension  of  the  evangelical  princi- 
ple is  necessary  for  genuineness  in  religion;  it  must 
also  be  recognised  that  its  exaggeration  has  often 
banished  sobriety.  It  is  no  dishonour  to  the  general 
excellence  of  Reformation  influence  to  note  the  ab- 
surd and  immoral  excesses  to  which  unbalanced  as- 
sertion of  its  principles  has  sometimes  led;  but 
these  unpleasant  phenomena,  existing  not  only  in 
the  past  but  also  in  the  present,  must  be  fairly 
considered  when  we  are  trying1  to  estimate  the 
value  of  the  movement  and  to  adjust  our  relation 
to  it. 

£.  A  second  consequence  of  Protestant  influence 
has  been  the  encouragement  of  unrestrained  and  de- 
structive rationalism.  Emphasis  on  the  function  of 
the  intellect  in  religion  has  led  to  exaggeration  of 
its  powers,  due  anomalously  to  failure  to  exercise 
them.  One  of  the  most  important  functions  of  rea- 
son is  the  recognition  of  its  proper  limitations;  and 
if  reason  is  to  do  its  work,  it  needs  restraint  and 
correlation  to  man's  other  faculties.  In  spite  of 
Luther's  violent  assaults  on  reason  as  a  possible 


140  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

rival  to  faith,  to  Luther  himself  may  be  traced  the 
beginnings  of  a  habit  of  negative  criticism  which 
has  in  many  quarters  led  to  the  destruction  of  all 
faith.  Protestantism  has  as  matter  of  fact  been  the 
parent  of  unbelief,  both  by  reaction  from  its  rigours 
and  as  direct  result  of  a  tendency  which  it  has  itself 
fostered.  It  is  a  patent  fact  that  Unitarianism  and 
Agnosticism,  and  occasionally  Atheism,  have  dogged 
its  steps.  This  has  been  largely  due  to  revolt  from 
the  inhuman  dogmas  of  Calvinistic  theology,  but 
also  to  the  Protestant  tendency  to  reduce  all  truth 
to  the  level  of  individual  comprehension  and  to  re- 
ject as  unnecessary,  if  not  as  untrue,  anything  and 
everything  which  made  no  special  appeal  to  the  in- 
dividual mind.  Religious  truth  has  been  treated  as 
purely  subjective,  and  reduced  to  the  confines  of 
individual  subjectivity. 

The  process  of  rationalistic,  as  distinct  from  ra- 
tional, development  in  the  case  of  Luther  was  some- 
what as  follows.  Against  certain  manifest  abuses 
in  the  Church  he  quoted  the  authority  of  St.  Paul. 
He  was  reminded  that  opposition  to  established 
usages  was  virtual  repudiation  of  the  authority  of 
the  Church  as  represented  in  the  Pope.  This  led 
him  explicitly  to  declare  that  the  supreme  and  final 
authority  in  the  Church  is  not  the  Pope  but  Holy 
Scripture.  And  this  raised  at  once  the  question  of 
authoritative  interpretation.  The  Pope  had  his 
views  of  the  meaning  of  Scripture,  and  quoted 
Scripture  against  Luther.  Luther  would  not  hear 
of  that.  The  only  interpretation  of  Scripture  he 
recognised  was  his  own;  and  this  led  him  to  elabo- 


Protestantism 

rate  the  doctrine  of  the  sufficiency  of  private 
judgment.  By  this  he  meant  only  his  own  private 
judgment,  since  he  treated  all  divergent  private 
judgments  in  whatever  quarter  they  appeared  with 
indiscriminate  denunciation.  It  was  thus  that  he  ad- 
dressed himself  to  some  of  his  disciples  in  Witten- 
berg: "  Satan  has  been  busy  during  my  .absence  and 
has  sent  you  some  of  his  prophets.  He  knows  whom 
to  send;  but  you  ought  to  know  too  that  I  am  the 
only  person  you  should  listen  to.  Martin  Luther  is 
the  first  man  in  the  Reformation;  others  come  after 
him;  he  therefore  should  command  and  you  should 
obey.  It  is  your  lot.  I  am  the  man  to  whom  God 
has  revealed  His  Word.  I  know  Satan  and  am  not 
afraid  of  him;  I  have  hit  him  a  blow  that  he  will 
feel  for  a  long  time."  So  also  to  the  Zwickau 
Prophets,  who,  declaring  that  Luther  was  being  con- 
verted to  their  understanding  of  Scripture,  began 
to  cry  "The  Spirit!  the  Spirit!"  he  tersely  replied, 
"  I  slap  your  spirit  on  the  snout."  Nor  did  the 
eminently  Scriptural  Zwingli  please  him.  "  What 
a  fellow  is  this  Zwinglius!  ignorant  as  a  block  of 
grammar  and  logic  and  every  other  science.  .  .  . 
I  regard  him  as  having  drawn  upon  himself  the 
hatred  of  all  good  men  by  his  daring  and  criminal 
manner  of  teaching  the  Word  of  God."  All  this  will 
compare  favourably  with  his  language  to  the  Pope, 
the  scholastic  theologians,  and  Henry  VIII;  yet  it 
is  all  directed  against  those  who  were  at  one  with 
him  in  exalting  the  authority  of  Scripture  and  in 
adopting  his  principle  of  private  judgment.  His 
difficulties  with  the  refractory  private  judgments  of 


142  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

his  followers  were  analogous  to  those  of  George  Fox, 
the  apostle  of  "  inward  light,"  with  the  refractory 
inward  lights  of  some  early  Quakers.  He  was 
obliged  to  require  that  other  inward  lights  should 
be  subject  to  his  own! 

Moreover,  Luther's  difficulties  were  not  confined  to 
expositors  of  Scripture;  he  encountered  difficulties 
— even  opposition — in  the  Scriptures  themselves. 
And  when  the  Scriptures  dared  to  say  things  other 
than  what,  according  to  his  private  judgment,  they 
ought  to  say,  so  much  the  worse  for  them!  Some 
Apostles  he  wholly  approved  of;  others  he  did  not. 
The  final  criterion  of  what  was  apostolic  and  what 
was  evangelical  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  his 
own  opinion.  "  Those  Apostles  who  treat  oftenest 
and  highest  of  how  faith  in  Christ  alone  justifies  are 
the  best  evangelists.  Therefore  are  Paul's  Epistles 
more  a  Gospel  than  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke.  For 
these  do  not  set  down  more  than  the  story  of  the 
works  and  miracles  of  Christ;  but  the  grace  we  re- 
ceive through  Christ,  no  one  so  boldly  extols  as 
Paul,  especially  in  his  letter  to  the  Romans." 
"  John's  Gospel,  Paul's  Epistles,  especially  that  to 
the  Romans,  and  Peter's  First  Epistle  are  the  right 
kernel  and  marrow  of  all  books  .  .  .  for  in  them 
thou  findest  written  down  not  many  works  and  mira- 
cles of  Christ,  but  in  a  quite  masterly  way  expounded 
how  faith  in  Christ  overcomes  sin  and  death  and  hell, 
and  gives  life,  righteousness,  and  peace;  which  is,  as 
thou  hast  heard  [from  me],  the  right  kind  of  Gos- 
pel. .  .  .  Therefore  is  the  Epistle  of  James,  in 
comparison  with  these,  a  mere  letter  of  straw  and 


Protestantism  143 

has  nothing  evangelical  about  it."  Luther's  confi- 
dence in  his  own  infallibility  became  conviction  of 
his  own  direct  and  unique  inspiration.  "  I  will  go," 
he  said,  "  to  the  Council  of  Trent ;  and  may  I  lose 
my  head,  if  I  do  not  defend  my  opinions  against 
all  the  world.  What  comes  from  my  lips  is  not 
anger  of  mine  but  God's."  Or  again,  "  I  have  the 
Gospel  not  from  man,  but  from  heaven  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

This  was  the  first  practical  application  of  the 
Lutheran  doctrine  of  private  judgment,  and  is  of 
necessity  its  classical  illustration.  It  has  been  the 
fact,  as  was  perhaps  inevitable,  that  the  working 
out  of  the  principle  in  history  should  conform  more 
or  less  closely  to  its  exemplification  in  Luther  him- 
self. His  rough  and  ready  methods  of  criticism  by 
applying  all  authority  to  the  touchstone  of  his  own 
opinion,  his  virtual  confining  of  truth  to  the  sug- 
gestions of  his  own  intellect,  were  obviously  ap- 
plicable in  more  ways  than  one,  and  might  be,  as 
they  have  been,  used  in  defending  denials  of  what 
Luther  held  most  dear.  His  private  judgment  af- 
firmed justification  by  faith  only;  another  judgment 
might  as  easily  affirm  the  necessity  of  works.  His 
judgment  accepted  miracle  and  believed  in  constant 
miracle;  another  judgment,  following  the  same 
lines,  might  reject  all  miracle  as  such  and  every 
narrative  and  theory  having  miraculous  elements. 
Many  judgments  have  done  this.  The  destructive 
criticism,  calling  itself  rationalism,  which  has  made 
most  violent  assaults  on  the  Scriptural  basis  of  the 
Christian  religion,  may  trace  its  method  and  initial 


144  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

impulse  directly  to  Luther  as  source.  Voltaire  and 
the  Encyclopedists  in  France,  the  Tubingen  critics 
in  Germany,  and  the  Deists  in  England  are  almost  as 
direct  products  of  the  Lutheran  movement  on  its 
intellectual  side  as  the  Pietists  and  Schleiermacher 
are  its  products  as  exponents  of  the  religious  feel- 
ing. Luther  stands  at  the  beginning  of  two  lines 
of  development,  and  is  as  much  responsible  for  the 
destructive  rationalism  as  for  the  religious  emotion- 
alism, with  which  it  has  been  in  marked  contrast  and 
sharp  conflict. 

Modern  religious  history  has  exhibited  an  undue 
confidence  in  human  reason  to  fathom  mysteries  be- 
yond its  scope,  and  an  unnatural  tendency  to  deny 
whatever  cannot  be  immediately  proven  or  under- 
stood. There  has  been  an  exaltation  of  reason,  which 
is  strikingly  irrational;  and  dogmatic  denial  of  the 
dogmas  of  faith  on  the  strength  of  dogmatic  asser- 
tion of  all  dogma's  irrational  character.  Fear  of 
superstitions  of  faith  has  often  led  to  greater  su- 
perstitions of  incredulity.  It  is  true  that  irrational 
faith  in  God  is  imperfect;  but  it  is  also  true  that 
some  sort  of  faith  in  God  is  more  rational  than  no 
faith,  and  less  harmful  than  irrational  scepticism. 
The  rationalistic  element  in  Protestantism  has  often 
neutralised  the  evangelical,  since  the  net  result  of 
Protestant  influence  in  some  places  has  been  not 
justification  by  greater  faith,  but  the  justification  of 
little  or  no  faith  at  all.  The  opposition  to  the 
overdogmatism  of  scholastic  theology  led  first  to 
new  exhibitions  of  overdogmatism  on  the  part  of 
Protestant  scholastics,  and  then  to  repudiation  of 


Protestantism  145 

the  dogmas   of  Scripture,  whose  authority  Protes- 
tantism in  theory  accepts. 

3.  It  is  not  surprising  that  Protestantism  as  ex- 
ponent of  individualism  in  religion  should  sometimes 
display  an  unguarded  individualism.  This  may  take 
various  forms.  In  the  sphere  of  intellect  or  emotion 
it  may  result  in  the  substitution  of  figments  of  an 
undisciplined  mind  or  imagination  for  the  demonstra- 
ble truths  or  necessary  postulates  upon  which  sober 
and  rational  religion  may  be  based.  It  may  result 
in  imperfect  spiritual  apprehension,  because  certain 
facts  of  spiritual  consciousness  are  not  related  to 
others,  which  are  equally  facts  of  spiritual  con- 
sciousness. Analogously,  the  individual  may  fail  to 
relate  himself  to  the  society.  It  is  not  strange  that 
a  movement  based  on  assertion  of  self-respect,  self- 
help,  and  self -development  should  display  the  defects 
of  those  virtues.  Protestantism  has  favoured  the 
growth  of  a  sturdy  self-assurance,  and  it  has  also 
produced  many  forms  of  self-centred  selfishness.  It 
has,  in  every  one  of  its  many  manifestations,  led 
to  disparagement,  and  sometimes  to  the  overthrow, 
of  the  corporate,  social  side  of  Christianity.  It 
starts  as  the  struggle  of  an  heroic  individual  against 
a  mighty  and  corrupt  corporation;  and,  as  not  in- 
frequently has  happened,  has  made  the  crude  as- 
sumption that  all  corporations  must  invariably  be 
wrong  and  all  sturdy  individuals  invariably  right. 
A  slight  experience  of  the  great  variety  of  sturdy 
individuals  is  sufficient  to  banish  the  latter  error, 
though  the  perception  of  the  true  function  of  the 
corporation  is  a  bit  of  wisdom  more  gradually  ac- 


146  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

quired.  Unrestrained  individualism  leads  to  anarchy ; 
and  in  the  wake  of  all  movements  based  on  individu- 
alism, anarchy  in  some  form  has  always  appeared 
both  in  State  and  Church.  Both  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical anarchy  have  appeared  as  by-products  of  the 
Protestant  Reformation.  The  interests  of  society 
as  a  whole  have  been  sacrificed  to  the  apparent  needs 
of  certain  members  of  society ;  and  the  fact  that 
these  members  happen  in  some  cases  to  belong  to 
less-favoured  rather  than  to  more  favoured  classes 
in  no  way  alters  the  fact  that  this  is  a  species  of 
tyranny.  The  anarchist  is  invariably  a  tyrant.  His 
method  of  asserting  his  own  rights  is  virtual  denial 
that  any  rights  belong  to  others ;  and  his  method  of 
self-protection  is  a  conscienceless  policy  of  "  rule  or 
ruin."  Every  species  of  pure  selfishness,  rude  or 
refined,  great  or  small,  affecting  the  interests  of 
few  or  many,  belongs  to  the  same  category.  The 
anarchist  is  only  an  individualist  who  has  the 
logical,  and  possibly  physical,  courage  to  carry  his 
premises  to  conclusions.  The  chief  lesson  taught 
by  anarchy,  appearing  unrestricted  either  in  the 
theory  of  the  self-centred  philosopher  or  in  the  vio- 
lence of  the  professional  assassin,  is  that  unguarded 
individualism  leads  to  impossible  consequences;  that 
it  is  an  edge-tool  which  must  be  carefully  manipu- 
lated; that  it  must  be  balanced  by  correlation  with 
the  corporate  principle;  that  the  individual  misses 
his  highest  development  when  he  fails  to  relate  him- 
self to  his  social  environment. 

The   sturdy   individualism   of  the   modern   period 
has   accomplished  excellent   results  by  manly  asser- 


Protestantism  147 

tion  of  the  rights  of  the  oppressed  and  by  manly 
efforts  to  better  their  condition.  But  it  has  also 
often  overstepped  its  proper  limits.  Some  of  the 
best  examples  of  its  rightful  and  effective  opera- 
tion have  illustrated  also  its  possible  one-sidedness 
and  susceptibility  of  abuse.  Democracy,  which  is 
its  political  expression,  has  accomplished  wonderful 
results,  results  never  attained  before  the  dawning  of 
the  democratic  age,  and  attained  nowhere  at  the 
present  time  where  the  spirit  of  democracy  does  not 
predominate.  The  spirit  of  true  democracy  teaches 
care  for  a  weaker  brother;  but  there  are  forms  of 
diemocracy  which  are  utterly  selfish,  and  which  miss 
their  aim,  because  they  are  unthinking  as  well.  Mod- 
ern democracy  has  afforded  not  a  few  examples  of 
the  weakness  and  impossibility  of  its  principles  when 
unguardedly  applied,  many  examples  of  the  absurd- 
ity of  assuming  that  every  man  is  actually,  or  even 
potentially,  a  leader  and  ruler,  or  that  the  people  as 
a  whole  can  dispense  with  leadership  and  authority. 

"Chaos,    Cosmos!    Cosmos,  Chaos!    once  again   the  sickening 

game; 

Freedom,  free  to  slay  herself,  and  dying  while  they  shout  her 
name. 

Ye  that  woo  the  Voices — tell  them  '  old  experience  is  a  fool,' 
Teach  your  flattered  kings  that  only  they  who  cannot  read  can 
rule. 

Pluck  the  mighty  from  their  seat,  but  set  no  meek  ones  in  their 

place  ; 
Pillory  Wisdom  in  your  markets,  pelt  your  offal  in  her  face. 

Tumble  Nature  heel  o'er  head,  and,  yelling  with  the  yelling 

street, 
Set  the  feet  above  the  brain,  and  swear  the  brain  is  in  the  feet." 


148  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

Democratic  principles  need  to  be  safeguarded.  The 
champions  of  individual  right  must  always  recognise 
not  only  the  equal,  but  also  the  differing,  rights  of 
other  individuals,  the  dependence  of  freedom  for  its 
maintenance  upon  choice  of  the  fit  to  rule,  and  in 
all  that  concerns  the  religious  life  the  paramount 
authority  of  Almighty  God.  Enlightened  democ- 
racy endeavours  to  take  careful  account  of  the 
rights  of  all  and  to  provide  for  the  rightful  ex- 
ercise of  authority;  it  never  denies  the  Divine  su- 
premacy. Yet  as  matter  of  fact  this  last  is  largely 
ignored,  and  in  many  practical  ways  defied.1 

As  a  nation  we  have  been  learning  important  les- 
sons of  the  need  of  safeguarding  our  democratic 
principles;  and  the  recognition  of  this  need  has  be- 
come clearer  during  the  past  twenty-five  years. 
Problems  arising  from  the  Civil  War  and  from  the 
increase  of  immigration  have  made  it  apparent  that 
we  were  in  danger  of  carrying  one  set  of  our  prin- 
ciples to  impossibly  one-sided  conclusions.  The  so- 
berness which  is  coming  with  national  maturity  is 
leading  us  to  seek  "  life,  freedom,  and  the  pursuit 

1  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  in  some  recent  studies  of  the  Spirit  of 
Democracy  compares  and  contrasts  the  two  lines  of  democratic 
development  which  have  been  most  influential  in  this  country, 
one  having  its  source  in  English  Puritanism,  the  other  in  French 
Jacobinism.  He  considers  the  former  the  truer  type  as  having 
a  theocratic  basis. 

"  One  was  founded  on  faith  in  God,  the  other  was  untheistic, 
if  not  atheistic.  To  one  the  basis  of  all  authority  is  the  will 
of  God;  to  the  other,  the  will  of  the  majority.  .  .  .  One  de- 
sired to  limit  the  suffrage  to  those  who  were  obedient  to  the 
will  of  God,  though  they  found  it  difficult  to  provide  a  satis- 


Protestantism  149 

of  happiness"  in  ways  which  more  fully  recognise 
the  claims  of  human  brotherhood,  if  not  those  of 
Divine  sonship.  America  of  the  early  twentieth 
century  is  sensibly  modifying  the  ideas  which  pre- 
vailed in  America  of  the  early  nineteenth.  Three 
illustrations  may  be  given. 

Our  broader  views  of  education  strikingly  demon- 
strate the  way  in  which  an  individual  conception  may 
rise  to  a  corporate  conception.  It  is  not  long  since 
education  was  thought  of  chiefly  as  an  individual 
privilege,  carefully  to  be  guarded  for  the  exclusive 
benefit  of  those  who  might  be  able  to  seek  it.  Public 
schools  were  levelling,  and  it  was  seen  that  they  lev- 
elled downward;  therefore,  the  best  educated  classes 
had  little  use  for  public  schools.  This  was  especially 
true  in  the  South.  Education  was  the  privilege  of 
the  comparatively  few.  We  still  see  the  dangers 
of  a  downward  levelling  in  public  schools ;  but  we 
are  determined  that  they  shall  level  upward:  for  we 
have  come  to  believe  in  general  education  not  only 
as  a  desirable  form  of  philanthropy,  but  as  a  social 
necessity.  It  is  not  enough  that  a  man  be  educated 

factory  test;  the  other  believed  in  universal  and  unqualified 
suffrage.  .  .  .  One  was  social,  the  other  individual.  One 
tended  toward  co-operation,  combination,  organisation;  the 
other  toward  competition.  One  looked  forward  toward  realis- 
ing the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  the  other  sought  to  return 
to  a  state  of  nature.  The  motto  of  one  was  the  law  of  Christ: 
*  One  is  your  Master,  even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren.' 
The  motto  of  the  other  was  the  law  of  the  forest:  Struggle  for 
existence,  the  survival  of  the  fittest"  (Outlook  for  June  18, 
1910). 
As  a  general  description  of  two  forms  of  democracy  this 


15'0  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

himself;  he  cannot  lead  a  free  life,  unless  he  be  one 
of  a  community  of  educated  citizens.  Individual 
enfranchisement  can  only  come  through  social 
enfranchisement. 

Again,  we  have  learned  that  the  mere  wish  to 
exercise  authority  is  not  sufficient  proof  of  ability 
to  exercise  it.  The  theory  of  universal  suffrage 
which  seemed  inseparable  from  our  principles,  has  in 
all  parts  of  the  country  been  modified.  Most  see  the 
need  of  limited  suffrage,  and  there  is  a  strong  tend- 
ency to  have  it  more  and  more  strictly  limited.  The 
standard  of  requirements  is  being  raised  at  the  same 
time  that  every  effort  is  being  made  to  enable  more 
and  more  citizens  to  satisfy  the  requirements.  But 
it  is  clearly  seen  that  just  government  consists  in 
something  more  than  "  the  consent  of  the  governed," 
since  too  often  have  the  governed  consented  to 
things  which  almost  immediately  they  proclaimed  not 
"  just."  It  is  recognised  on  all  sides  that  only  in 
a  carefully  limited  sense  can  we  assert  that  "  all  men 
are  created  free  and  equal."  We  have  learned  not 
to  confuse  the  ideal  with  the  actual. 

Again,  we  are  learning  more  to  recognise  in  the 
background  of  our  political  life  absolute  standards 
of  law  and  authority.  We  do  not  assume  so  readily 

could  scarcely  be  improved  upon,  although  it  cannot  be  ap- 
plied to  the  historical  types  under  discussion  without  qualifica- 
tion. There  have  been  noble  strains  and  marked  altruism  in 
certain  phases  of  developments  from  the  French  source;  and 
there  has  been  an  immense  amount  of  cold-hearted  and  cold- 
blooded selfishness  inherited  direct  from  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 
As  has  been  aptly  noted,  "As  soon  as  they  landed  they  fell 
on  their  knees;  and  then  they  got  up  and  fell  on  the 
aborigines ! " 


Protestantism  151 

as  our  grandfathers  the  infallibility  of  paper- 
constitutions,  or  the  certainty  of  arriving  at 
truth  and  justice  through  the  excitement  of 
conventions.  We  have  seen  too  many  paper-con- 
stitutions made  and  made  over;  and  the  uncom- 
fortable suspicion  sometimes  arises  in  our  minds 
that  popular  election  does  not  invariably  determine 
the  fittest  to  survive.  We  do  not  believe  that 
ultimate  political  authority  rests  with  chance- 
majorities;  but  are  striving  more  and  more  to  re- 
late the  authority  we  recognise  to  the  eternal  laws 
of  right  and  wrong.  It  is  not  enough  to  know  that 
a  thing  is  legal,  or  that  it  is  constitutional;  we  wish 
also  to  know  whether  it  is  right.  We  have  at  the 
present  time  a  prophetic  element  in  our  politics 
which,  after  all  due  reservations  have  been  made,  is 
a  sign  of  movement  toward  readjustment  of  political 
conceptions  and  practices  by  relating  them  more  di- 
rectly to  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  idea  of  the 
Kingdom  brings  in  the  sense  of  corporate  responsi- 
bility and  of  ultimate  authority,  by  which  a  selfish 
individualism  translated  into  forms  of  democratic 
government  needs  to  be  guarded.  The  need  of  this 
has  shown  itself  in  our  political  history.  We  have 
had,  and  have,  too  much  individualism;  and  we  are 
trying  to  remedy  defects. 

Precisely  the  same  sort  of  thing  is  true  of  our 
religious  development.  It  is  impossible  for  any  fair- 
minded  student  of  the  times,  or  for  any  lover  of 
humanity  and  of  the  Christian  Church,  to  shut  his 
eyes  to  the  threat  of  complete  disaster  to  the  Chris- 
tian cause  due  to  the  present  disintegration  of 


152  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

Christendom;  nor,  however  much  he  may  admire  the 
virility  of  Protestant  character  and  the  stability  of 
Protestant  achievements,  can  he  fail  to  see  that  this 
disintegration  is  due  to  the  centrifugal  tendencies  of 
Protestant  individualism.  For  it  is  a  fundamental 
assumption  of  popular  Protestantism  that  every 
man  is  free  to  choose  his  own  religion  and  his  own 
church;  and  this  is  so  interpreted  as  to  mean  that 
he  is  free  to  invent  them.  A  man  is  not,  in  any  abso- 
lute sense,  free  to  choose  his  religion  and  his  church. 
Religion  is  his  knowledge  of  God,  and  the  Church 
his  method  of  entering  into  relation  with  God;  and 
both  are  determined  by  the  unchangeableness  of  the 
Divine  Nature  and  the  Divine  Revelation.  Upon 
man  depends  his  own  degree  of  apprehension  of  Di- 
vine truth;  but  the  truth  remains  fixed  outside  him- 
self. It  represents  God;  and  until  a  man  recognises 
that  Religion  and  Church  have  to  do  with  God,  and 
that  all  that  he  can  do  is  to  seek  and  submit  to 
Divine  guidance  and  Divine  authority,  he  cannot 
know  the  ABC  of  religion. 

We  shrink  from  anything  which  seems  to  deny, 
or  to  restrict,  human  freedom.  Yet  a  little  thought 
and  common-sense  show  how  many  limits  there  are 
to  freedom.  A  man  is  not  free  to  choose  his  family, 
his  nation,  his  equipment  for  developing  character, 
all  of  them  things  intimately  concerning  his  inmost 
personality,  exclusively  concerning  himself.  Much 
more  is  he  not  free  to  choose,  in  the  sense  of  to 
invent,  what  relates  to  God.  Moreover,  there  can 
only  be  freedom  within  the  spheres  of  truth  and 
righteousness.  It  is  a  contradiction  in  terms  to  say 


Protestantism  153 

that  a  man  is  free  to  believe  or  to  tell  lies,  to  steal 
or  to  be  robbed,  to  murder  or  to  be  murdered. 
Analogously,  he  is  only  free  to  know  the  truth  and 
to  experience  the  truth  about  God.  His  freedom 
consists  in  his  being  bound.  He  is  free  to  become 
free;  and  that  is  all.  He  is  free  to  choose  whether 
he  will  correspond  with  the  revelation  and  require- 
ments made  by  God  Himself.  He  has  freedom  of 
the  kind  which,  recognising  the  different  means  of 
approach  to  God  due  to  the  "  diversities  of  opera- 
tions of  the  same  Spirit,"  has  to  choose  the  line 
of  his  own  first  approach;  but  in  his  exercise  of 
freedom  he  must  never  forget  that  he  is  creature 
seeking  to  apprehend  truth  concerning  his  Creator, 
that  he  is  human  son  trying  to  enter  into  corre- 
spondence with  the  Divine  Father.  He  has  no  free- 
dom of  a  kind  that  can  deal  with  God  on  equal 
terms.  He  is  not  free  to  determine  anything  con- 
cerning God  Himself,  although  he  has  been  made 
free  to  determine  his  own  personal  relation  to  God. 
He  is  only  free  to  choose  his  slavery. 

"  Thou  wilt  not  leave  us  in  the  dust : 

Thou  madest  man,  he  knows  not  why. 
He  thinks  he  was  not  made  to  die; 
And  Thou  hast  made  him :  Thou  art  just. 

"  Thou  seemest  human  and  Divine, 

The  holiest,  highest  manhood,  Thou ; 

Our  wills  are  ours  we  know  not  how  ; 
Our  wills  are  ours  to  make  them  Thine." 

Man  can  only  approach  God  in  the  spirit  of  prayer, 
and  can  only  accept  what  comes  from  God  in  the 
spirit  of  humble  thanksgiving. 


154          Principles  of  Anglicanism 

The  spirit  of  self-help  and  self-respect  has  always 
to  be  on  its  guard  against  becoming  self-centred; 
and  if  it  fails  to  escape  this  danger,  the  self-centred 
character  makes  a  religion  of  self  and  leaves  God 
out  of  it.  With  fine  intentions  of  maintaining  a 
strong  and  valiant  humanity,  it  maims  humanity  by 
making  it  fall  short  of  its  true  climax  in  conscious 
sonship.  Any  system  which  tends  to  make  men  feel 
themselves  critics  of  God  and  His  Church,  or  dis- 
criminating patrons  of  religions  and  churches,  and 
dims  man's  sense  that  he  can  only  approach  God  as 
a  penitent  sinner  and  trustful  child,  cannot  fail  to 
harm  the  cause  of  religion,  which  it  degrades,  even 
if  it  does  not  destroy.  Protestantism  with  its  ultra- 
individualism  has  to  a  great  extent  done  this,  and 
chiefly  in  two  ways:  (1)  it  has  largely  abandoned  the 
conception  of  the  Christian  Church  as  mystical  Body 
of  Christ;  and  (2)  it  has  to  a  great  extent  lost  the 
spirit  of  worship. 

The  weakening  of  hold  on  the  Church  idea  has 
come  in  two  ways.  In  the  first  place,  over-insistence 
on  individual  right  has  led  to  an  obscuring  of  the 
corporate  sense,  and,  as  was  perhaps  inevitable, 
Church  was  affected  more  than  State.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  the  new  impetus  given  to  social  organisa- 
tion on  democratic  lines  for  secular  purposes  has 
naturally  and  rightly  led  to  similar  organisation  for 
religious  and  ecclesiastical  purposes;  and  this  has 
led  to  radical  departure  from  Christian  principle 
whenever  these  democratic  organisations  have  been 
viewed  as  substitutes  for  the  Church  inaugurated  by 
Christ.  The  democratic  principle  has  its  place  in 


Protestantism  155 

Christianity.  Not  only  are  Christians  free  citizens 
in  a  free  Kingdom;  they  are  more  than  that,  free 
sons  in  the  Father's  house.  There  is  no  liberty  so 
perfect  as  "  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of 
God."  But  the  condition  of  enjoying  that  liberty 
is  the  self-surrender  of  individual  faith.  To  ignore 
this  condition  is  to  seek  a  religion  which  is  without 
God  and,  therefore,  without  hope. 

The  natural  polity  of  unguarded  democracy  or 
Protestantism  is  Congregationalism,  which  is  indi- 
vidualism practically  applied.  The  theory  that  any 
congregation  may  adopt  for  itself  creed  and  church- 
polity  (with  the  corollary  that  every  man  may 
choose  his  congregation)  is  nothing  more  than  ex- 
pression of  the  principle  that  every  man  may  in- 
vent creed  and  church  for  himself.  This  is  not  New 
Testament  Christianity.  The  Creed  was  to  sum- 
marise a  "  faith  once  delivered,"  giving  the  sub- 
stance of  a  revelation  from  Almighty  God.  The 
Church  was  a  society  inaugurated  by  Christ  and 
continuously  animated  by  Him,  as  a  means  of  bring- 
ing about  mystical  union  with  Himself.  For  the 
Divinely-inspired  Church  humanly-devised  organisa- 
tions are  no  substitute.  Any  assertion  of  individual 
human  rights  which  weakens  conviction  that  our 
relation  to  God  is  one  of  dependence,  falls  into  the 
capital  error  which  evoked  our  Lord's  sternest  de- 
nunciation, the  self-complacency  of  the  Pharisees. 

The  democratic  principle  may  not  be  directly  ap- 
plied to  the  bases  of  religion.  God  does  not  reign 
by  popular  election;  nor  do  His  laws  for  their  va- 
lidity need  initial  endorsement  by  special  commit- 


156          Principles  of  Anglicanism 

tees.  The  Church  of  God  is  not  a  republic  of  this 
world,  but  a  Kingdom  not  of  this  world;  and  as 
citizens  of  that  Kingdom  we  must  recognise — if  we 
may  use  earthly  terms — that  the  Ruler  of  that  King- 
dom is  an  Absolute  Monarch.  Authority  emanates 
solely  from  Him;  and  men  can  only  obey  it  as  loyal 
subjects.  Democratic  principle  has  its  place  in  the 
method  of  God's  dealing  with  us  and  in  our  method 
of  approach  toward  Him;  but  it  has  not  determined 
the  character  of  redemption  through  the  Church, 
nor  does  it  indicate  the  character  and  source  of 
the  Divine  authority. 

These  are  not  meaningless  platitudes.  Down  at 
the  bottom  of  many  of  our  difficulties  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  as  one  great  cause  of  the  disunion  of  Chris- 
tendom, lies  the  false  assumption  that  the  social  as- 
pect of  religion  must  correspond  to  the  social  aspect 
of  secular  politics.  The  ideals  of  a  democratic  age 
have  obscured,  and  in  some  cases  destroyed,  any 
true  sense  of  the  meaning  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
Much  popular  Protestantism  has  lost  the  feeling 
of  man's  dependence  on  God,  and  all  humility  of 
attitude  toward  the  means  of  redemption  established 
by  His  Son.  The  sense  that  the  Church  is  a  Divine 
society  has  been  dulled  where  it  has  not  been  lost. 
Signs  of  reaction  have  begun  to  appear,  of  which 
one  of  the  most  striking  is  the  emphasis  on  the  func- 
tion and  meaning  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the  later 
writings  of  Albrecht  Ritschl.1 

1  Such  statements  as  these  are  open  to  criticism  for  discrep- 
ancy with  well-known  facts;  but  as  a  generalisation  they  may 
stand.  E.g.,  the  Sovereignty  of  God  and  the  irresistible  char- 


Protestantism  157 

4.  Another  disastrous  consequence  of  Protestant 
influence  is  the  widespread  loss  of  the  spirit  of  wor- 
ship. This  follows  from  the  weakening  of  the  sense 
of  dependence  upon  Divine  grace.  Making  church 
merely  a  meeting-house,  unwillingness  to  kneel  in 
prayer,  represent  something  more  than  mere  change 
in  outward  form  through  substitution  of  the  simple 
and  genuine  for  the  complicated  and  formal.  They 
indicate  a  change  in  spirit,  which  tends  to  drag 
worship  down  to  the  level  of  the  commonplace.  If 
church  be  no  more  than  association  of  one  man  with 
his  fellows  for  religious  debate,  a  meeting-house  is 
all  that  is  necessary.  If  service  be  only  intercourse 
between  man  and  his  fellow-men,  there  is  no  need  for 
attitudes  of  humble  prostration.  We  all  of  us  know 
something  of  what  pass  as  prayers  in  many  Prot- 
estant churches.  They  often  breathe  the  spirit  of 
highest  devotion  (and  when  they  do,  they  not  infre- 
quently adopt  the  language  of  the  historic  litur- 
gies) ;  but  more  often  they  are  argumentative 

acter  of  His  decrees  have  been  more  strongly  asserted  by 
Calvinism  than  by  any  other  form  of  modern  Christianity. 
The  first  aim  and  consequence  of  Calvinism  was  to  train  men 
in  the  fear  of  God.  Yet  the  actual  result  of  its  influence  in 
the  long  run  has  been  to  train  strong  men  who  have  more  and 
more  ceased  to  fear  a  God  Whom  they  had  not  been  equally 
trained  to  love,  and  who  have  come  more  and  more  to  rely 
on  themselves  and  their  own  powers  of  will,  until  God  has 
been  largely  left  out  of  account.  Modern  Calvinism  does  not 
tremble  before  the  Almighty's  predestinating  decrees;  it  de- 
bates as  to  how  far  the  Constitutional  Executive  of  the  Uni- 
verse may  be  trusted  to  act  in  independence  of  legislatures 
elected  by  itself. 


158  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

harangues,  addressed  to  an  audience  in  which  the 
Deity  is  included,  rather  than  expressions  of  the 
penitence  of  sinful  souls  in  the  presence  of  God. 
Men  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  meaning  of  the  Divine 
could  not  utter  them. 

Similarly,  church-music  and  sermons  are  regarded 
as  artistic  performances;  and  the  general  character 
of  "  worship "  is  that  of  lecture  on  religion  and 
sacred  concert.  This  conception  represents  a  stand- 
ard to  which  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  along 
with  others  is  only  too  disposed  to  live  down.  The 
great  and  flagrant  fact  of  the  decay  of  the  spirit 
of  worship,  that  is,  the  spirit  of  prayer,  in  spite 
of  the  caricatures  which  go  by  these  names,  is  writ 
large  across  the  history  of  modern  Christianity, 
and  more  than  anything  else  proclaims  the  inade- 
quacy of  the  system  it  represents.  There  has  been 
a  widespread  vulgarisation  of  religion  and  religious 
worship  which,  although  due  to  a  worthy  desire  to 
make  religion  homely  and  practical,  has  neverthe- 
less done  irreparable  harm  to  moral  and  spiritual 
character  by  relinquishing  the  first  idea  of  religion, 
namely,  that  it  deals  with  God,  and  the  first 
idea  of  worship,  namely,  that  it  is  intended  to 
elevate.  Man  is  to  be  lifted  up  to  heaven,  not 
the  things  of  heaven  to  be  dragged  down  to  earthi- 
ness. 

5.  It  is  a  grave  fault  and  handicap,  and  ought 
to  be  obviously  self-condemning,  for  any  religious 
system  to  be  predominantly  negative.  Neither 
Christianity  nor  any  other  religion  can  be  strongly 
built  on  what  men  do  not  believe.  Protestantism 


Protestantism  159 

has  always  given  prominence  to  its  negations, 
largely  because  of  the  handicap  of  an  unfortunate 
name.  Its  real  strength  has  been  due  to  the  positive 
evangelical  truth,  which  it  was  its  mission  to  reas- 
sert; but  it  has  often  felt  that  its  one  function  and 
virtue  was  to  protest,  to  make  a  religion  of  the 
confession  of  other  people's  sins !  That  sort  of 
confession  deserves  no  absolution.  The  Earl  of 
Clarendon's  description  of  the  Scottish  Covenanters 
is  a  true  characterisation  of  more  than  one  class  of 
Protestants :  "  Their  whole  religion  consists  in  an 
entire  detestation  of  Popery,  in  believing  the  Pope 
to  be  Anti-Christ,  and  in  hating  perfectly  the  per- 
sons of  all  papists  and  of  those  who  do  not  hate 
them."  "  Entire  detestation  "  can  never  constitute 
a  religion,  least  of  all  the  religion  of  Christ,  which 
is  perfect  love.  There  can  be  no  special  virtue  in 
detesting  the  Pope  or  any  one  else;  not  even  de- 
testation of  the  Devil  and  all  his  works  can  be 
religious,  unless  it  assume  a  subordinate  character 
as  one  aspect  of  positive,  burning  love  of  God.  Re- 
ligion must  be  always  of  the  mind  and  heart,  not 
merely  of  the  hind-legs! 

But  much  Protestantism  has  been,  and  is,  mere 
negation,  negation  not  only  of  certain  claims  of 
Popes,  but  of  the  supernatural  elements  in  Chris- 
tianity. Its  protest  has  been  ultimately  directed 
against  the  mystical  element  in  the  Sacraments,  in 
the  Church,  in  human  life.  It  has  rebelled  at  all 
mystery,  at  anything  beyond  comprehension,  at 
anything  demanding  effort  to  rise  above  the  worldly 
and  the  commonplace.  This  restiveness  at  the  claims 


160          Principles  of  Anglicanism 

of  the  mystical  and  the  supernatural  has  been  the 
characteristic  sign  of  a  drifting  further  and  further 
from  apprehension  of  the  first  principles  of  the  In- 
carnation and  of  all  religion;  and  it  can  only  be 
cured  by  recognising  the  need  of  positive  devotion 
to  the  positive  truths  proclaimed  by  Jesus  Christ. 
We  must  supersede  "  What  am  /  going  to  believe, 
because  it  commends  itself  to  me  ? "  much  more 
"  What  am  I  not  going  to  believe,  because  it  does 
not  commend  itself  to  me?"  by  "What  did  our 
Lord  Himself  teach,  that  I  may  believe  and  live?  " 
"  A  religion  without  mystery  is  a  religion  without 
God;"  and  any  religious  system  showing  a  practical 
tendency  to  minimise  and  eliminate  the  Divine  may 
survive  as  a  system,  but  as  a  religion  it  must  soon 
become  extinct. 

The  Protestant  Reformation  gave  effective  expres- 
sion to  the  great  truth  of  religious  individualism, 
which  most  needed  emphasis  at  the  time  of  its  oc- 
currence, in  what  was  apparently  the  most  effective 
way  at  the  time.  The  impetus  it  gave  to  the  mind 
and  conscience  of  the  modern  world  has  been  the 
cause  of  some  of  the  greatest  spiritual  blessings  which 
the  world  enjoys.  It  was  provoked  by  violent  asser- 
tions of  one  side  of  Christian  truth,  so  closely  asso- 
ciated with  abuses  as  inevitably  to  provoke  reaction 
of  a  violent  kind.  The  responsibility  for  this  must 
rest  largely  upon  those  who  provoked  it.  But  even 
in  its  beginnings  it  was  marked  by  one-sidedness  in 
another  direction;  and,  as  time  has  gone  on,  it  has 
become  more  and  more  out  of  focus.  It  has  fostered 
personal  faith  and  piety  of  a  sturdy  kind,  and  devo- 


Protestantism  161 

tion  to  the  authoritative  standards  of  primitive  Chris- 
tian days;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has  obscured 
the  corporate  sense  in  religion;  it  has  opposed  the 
sacramental  principle  in  Christianity  and  in  life;  it 
has  tended  to  keep  religion  and  piety  on  common- 
place levels. 

After  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  it,  we  can 
see  the  need  of  redressing  the  balance.  It  is  per- 
haps less  inevitable  in  this  age  than  in  times  past 
that  violent  reaction  should  be  succeeded  by  violent 
counter-reaction.  With  broader  vision  than  our  an- 
cestors had,  even  with  less  opportunity  for  delibera- 
tion than  fell  to  their  lot,  we  ought  to  be  able  to 
readjust  the  claims  and  relations  of  complementary 
truths,  and  obtain  balance  by  combination  of  them 
in  a  way  never  before  possible.  We  have  a  plain 
duty  of  trying  to  overcome  the  effects  of  Protestant 
one-sidedness.  We  wish  to  recognise  its  positive  vir- 
tues and  achievements,  and  to  keep  them  and  their 
results;  yet  appreciation  of  these  cannot  blind  us 
to  its  failures.  The  evidence  of  these  is  clear  in  the 
history  of  the  recent  past,  and  confronts  us  in  the 
present  condition  of  Christendom.  To  remedy  de- 
fects there  is  need  of  plain  speaking,  of  true  criti- 
cism, just  not  only  in  its  sympathy  but  also  in  its 
severity.  The  application  of  the  criticism  must  be 
made  first  at  home,  and  the  application  of  remedy 
first  in  our  own  house.  We  have  motes  and  beams 
of  our  own  to  attend  to  before  we  undertake  the  work 
of  optical  specialists.  There  is  need  among  our- 
selves of  new  realisation  of  the  supernatural  char- 
acter of  the  Church  as  a  consequence  of  the  super- 


162  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

natural  character  of  our  Lord;  and  if,  when  we  are 
ourselves  converted,  we  are  to  strengthen  our  breth- 
ren, we  must  remember  that  the  most  persuasive  apolo- 
getic is  illustration  by  a  brotherhood  of  men  of  the 
spirit  of  worship  translated  into  the  beauty  of 
holiness.1 

1  It  would  be  impossible  to  emphasise  the  main  point  of  this 
paper  more  forcibly  than  in  the  language  of  Dr.  Newman 
Smyth,  which  is  all  the  more  forcible  as  coming  from  a 
Congregationalist. 

"  It  were  an  easy  and  grateful  task  to  depict  the  splendid 
successes  of  Protestantism.  Our  free  churches  have  their  glory 
in  them.  They  are  the  pride  of  our  New  England  inheritance. 
They  are  the  ancestral  virtues  upon  which  our  homes  are  built. 
They  are  the  constitutional  foundations  of  our  American  citi- 
zenship. They  constitute  the  historic  security  of  democracy 
throughout  the  world.  They  have  opened  the  door  wide  for  all 
sciences  to  come  into  our  modern  civilisation;  and  they  have 
made  thought  as  free  as  the  angel  whom  the  early  Christian 
prophet  saw  flying  through  mid-heaven  with  an  everlasting 
evangel.  Protestantism  has  its  triumphal  arch,  and  upon  it  are 
depicted  the  victories  of  hard-fought  fields,  and  the  procession 
of  the  mighty  oppressors  of  the  nations  led  captive  by  it; 
and  the  names  of  the  heroes  of  its  faith  remain  inscribed  in 
perpetual  honour  upon  it.  But  it  is  a  completed  arch.  Its 
crowning  achievement  is  the  victory  which  it  has  won  forever 
for  the  spiritual  liberty  of  the  individual  man.  .  .  .  This  key- 
stone has  been  placed  secure  for  all  time  in  the  triumphal  arch 
of  Protestantism,  and  no  powers  of  darkness  shall  remove  it 
from  its  place.  In  the  main  the  distinctive  work  of  Prot- 
estants as  Protestants  has  been  done.  Hereafter  there  may  re- 
main the  lesser  and  decreasing  labour  of  extending  civil  lib- 
erty to  remoter  regions,  or  in  Christian  lands  of  adding  here 
and  there  some  finishing  touches  to  the  Reformation's  historic 
masterpiece  of  the  Emancipation  of  the  Spiritual  Man.  Hence- 
forth the  truth  is  free  which  makes  us  free.  In  this  fulfilment 


Protestantism  163 

of  its  providential  mission  lies  the  sign  of  the  passing  of  the 
Protestant  age.  For  a  work  achieved  is  always  the  sign  of 
another  and  greater  work  to  be  accomplished. 

"We  may  justly  reason  that  a  movement  of  the  religious 
thought  and  life,  which  has  already  passed  through  two  marked 
stages  of  development — the  epoch  of  protest  and  era  of  re- 
construction— is  a  providential  preparation  for  something  be- 
yond itself;  as  our  civil  war  and  the  subsequent  period  of 
reconstruction  have  proved  to  be  only  an  epoch  of  transition 
into  a  greater  nationality.  There  lies  before  us  in  its  vaster 
possibility  another  Christian  age  to  come.  Already  we  are 
feeling  its  problems.  Shall  the  Protestant  era — its  religious 
warfare  accomplished,  and  its  confused  years  of  reconstruc- 
tion drawing  happily  to  a  close — issue  in  a  grander  Catholi- 
cism? The  answer  of  faith  is — the  grander  Catholicism  ig 
already  at  the  door." 

"For  Christianity  must  become  the  mastery  of  human  life, 
or  it  is  not  the  final  religion.  If  our  existing  forms  of  reli- 
gion are  losing  such  control,  we  must  look  for  another  coming 
of  the  Son  of  Man  as  One  having  authority.  Now  it  is  just 
this  loss  of  religious  authority  which  the  churches  of  the  Ref- 
ormation must  confess.  At  this  point  we  are  not  dealing  with 
causes,  but  facing  facts.  We  have  to  do  with  actual  human 
conditions.  Exceptions  there  may  be  in  many  places;  and  com- 
pensations for  apparent  loss.  But  putting  these  for  the  mo- 
ment one  side,  and  looking  broadly  at  the  facts  of  life,  we 
must  admit  the  relaxation  of  authority  in  our  Protestant 
churches"  (Smyth:  Passing  Protestantism  and  Coming  Ca- 
tholicism, pp.  llf,  8,  14). 

The  gist  of  Dr.  Smyth's  message  is:  Protestantism  has  given 
us  freedom;  but  that  freedom  for  its  security  demands  a 
revival  of  authority.  This  means  something  more  than  that 
church-authority  must  be  called  in  to  check  religious  indi- 
vidualism. It  means  that  there  must  be  fuller  appreciation 
of  the  unique  authority  of  Him,  who  is  Head  of  the  Church. 
He  is  a  Person  not  to  discuss,  but  to  obey.  The  idea  of  au- 
thority can  never  be  separated  from  thought  of  its  Source. 
This  is  the  significance  of  Bishop  Hobart's  motto,  "  Evangelical 


164          Principles  of  Anglicanism 

Truth  and  Apostolic  Order."    The  Truth  of  the  Gospel  is  a 
Person,  and  Order  and  Authority  emanate  from  Him. 

If  we  are  to  revive  and  emphasise  the  idea  of  authority, 
that  idea  must  first  be  expressed,  not  in  the  exercise  of  au- 
thority, but  by  submission  to  it.  Only  they  can  command  who 
know  how  to  obey.  We  cannot  win  the  world  by  assertion, 
though  we  may  make  progress  by  humility.  We  are  pledged 
to  maintain  the  claims  and  the  authority  of  our  Lord  and  of 
His  Church;  but  we  can  only  do  so  as  we  translate  the  evan- 
gelical spirit  into  a  truly  apostolic  obedience. 


THE  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH 


VI 

THE  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Ephesians  iv:  4f.  There  is  one  Body  and  one  Spirit,  even  as 
ye  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling:  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one 
baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of  us  all,  Who  is  above  all  and 
through  all  and  in  you  all. 

WE  need  often  to  think  and  speak  of  the  Unity 
of  the  Church,  for  the  time  has  come  when  we  can- 
not avoid  sober  and  serious  consideration  of  what  is 
meant  by  the  oneness  of  the  Christian  Church,  no 
matter  what  the  intellectual  perplexities  of  grappling 
with  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  all  problems,  and 
no  matter  what  the  discomforts  of  a  discussion  likely 
to  occasion  controversy.  The  first  thing  we  say  of  the 
Church,  in  professing  our  belief  in  it,  is  that  it  is 
one;  and  the  great  problem  of  the  day  is,  How  can 
we  reconcile  this  theory  of  oneness  with  the  fact  of 
a  disintegrated  Christendom?  and,  How  can  we  do 
something  to  translate  theory  into  some  sort  of  prac- 
tical reality?  The  divisions  of  Christendom  are  not 
of  our  making,  but  their  perpetuation  depends  in 
part,  possibly  in  special  degree,  upon  our  generation. 
A  longing  for  unity  has  seized  so  firmly  upon  a  large 
portion  of  the  Christian  world  that  it  is  inevitable 
that  something  will  be  done  by  way  of  remedy;  and 
it  is  most  important  that  that  something  be  wise,  and 

167 


168  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

in  the  end  really  effective.  In  the  hurry  of  our  lives, 
we  are  wont  to  seek  short-cuts  to  the  ends  of  long 
roads,  and  to  adopt  rough-and-ready  methods  for 
delicate  undertakings.  We  are  awake  to  the  dangers 
of  supersensitive  caution,  which,  for  fear  of  doing 
wrong,  does — that  greatest  of  wrongs — nothing  at 
all;  but  we  are  not  equally  awake  to  the  possible  dan- 
gers of  impatient  rashness.  We  may  be  afraid  of 
rashness ;  but  we  are  rather  proud  of  impatience :  and 
impatience  is  one  of  the  worst  sorts  of  rashness.  We 
admire  prompt  action ;  and  in  a  desire  to  act 
promptly  often  act  unthinkingly.  Ajid  thus  we  de- 
feat our  own  best  aims.  What  we  most  need  is  an 
aggressive  charity  and  a  sober  resolution.  There 
is  much  false  charity,  in  reality  an  inane  indifference 
which  leads  to  no  results;  and  there  is  much  resolu- 
tion, which  is  unthinking  and  therefore  dangerous. 
But  aggressiveness  in  charity  and  soberness  in  reso- 
lution are  not  impossible,  and  they  are  absolutely 
necessary,  if  we  are  to  work  for  the  unity  of  our 
Lord's  Church  in  our  Lord's  own  way.  That  is  the 
aim  which  must  be  kept  constantly  before  our  eyes, 
our  Lord's  work  m  our  Lord's  way.  Too  often  we 
impose  our  ways  upon  His  work,  and  the  work  suf- 
fers in  consequence.  Often  with  the  best  intentions 
in  the  world  of  doing  His  work,  we  forget  to  ask 
whether  there  is  any  way  of  His  own  appointment 
for  going  about  it,  and,  if  so,  what  that  way  is. 

So  of  the  great  Unity-problem,  we  are  trying  hard 
to  devise  unities,  and  to  make  ourselves  think  that 
unities  exist  where  they  do  not ;  we  sometimes  blunder 
along  in  ways  of  our  own  with  eyes  tight-shut,  and 


The  Unity  of  the  Church  169 

think  and  boast  that  we  are  doing  God  service.  And 
all  the  time,  there  are  great  principles  set  as  guides 
for  all  we  do  for  the  unity  of  the  Church,  if  we  had 
but  the  will  to  look  for  them,  and  sense  and  con- 
science to  see  them.  Not  that  the  application  of  the 
principles,  once  recognised,  is  either  obvious  or  easy ; 
but  the  mere  disposition  to  look  at  certain  things 
written  large  on  the  face  of  the  Gospel  and  Chris- 
tian history  would  save  us  from  making  shallow  mis- 
takes, and  from  committing  old  sins  in  new  ways. 


There  are  two  common  modes  of  approach  to  the 
problem  of  unity,  the  reasons  for  which  we  all  feel, 
and  the  motives  for  which  we  all  share.  Yet  they  can- 
not stand  the  rigorous  tests  of  Scriptural  standards,  if 
we  expose  them  to  keen  scrutiny. 

1.  There  is  the  scheme  of  seeking  unity  upon  an 
undogmatic  basis,  that  is,  a  unity  of  agreement  that 
nobody  shall  think  anything  definite;  or  that  if  he 
does,  he  shall  not  say  what  it  is,  or  expect  any  one 
else  to  think  the  same.  The  reason  that  this  appeals 
to  us  in  greater  or  less  degree  is  that  we  are  weary 
of  wranglings,  and  deplore  disagreements  among 
Christians.  We  wish  to  do  away  with  possible  causes 
of  controversy;  and  we  attempt  it  by  trying  to  do 
away  with  thought,  or  at  least  with  the  expression 
of  thought.  We  all  recognise  the  need  of  reverent 
agnosticism  in  approaching  what  relates  to  the  life 
of  eternity,  and,  for  that  matter,  to  the  explanation 
of  life  now.  We  know  that  great  harm  has  been  done 
to  the  cause  of  religion  by  the  over-dogmatism  of 


170  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

those  who  have  striven  to  be  wise  beyond  what  is  writ- 
ten. But  in  our  insistence  that  there  are  many  things 
which  we  cannot  know,  and  that  some  people  have 
done  mischief  by  trying  to  know,  or  pretending  to 
know,  too  much,  we  forget  that  after  all  there  is 
much  that  we  do  know,  and  much  more  that  we  are 
bound  to  try  to  know;  and  that  there  is  no  sort 
of  unity,  in  thought  or  in  practical  life,  which  has 
not  for  its  basis  positive  truth.  Christian  unity  is 
based  upon  the  Christian  truth,  upon  as  much  of  it 
as  we  can  gain;  and  with  no  definite  certainty  for 
basis,  there  can  be  nothing  but  a  fanciful  super- 
structure in  practice.  No  unity  worth  much  can  ever 
be  fabricated  out  of  mere  agreement  not  to  try  to 
agree  about  anything.  And  yet  that  is  precisely 
what  undogmaticism  amounts  to. 

The  people  who  are  most  consistent  in  making  the 
undogmatic  experiment  are  the  great  Unitarians. 
They  assume  certain  great  dogmas,  the  Fatherhood 
of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man,  and  are  some- 
times dogmatic  in  denials  of  what  others  may  be  al- 
lowed to  believe ;  but,  on  the  whole,  their  attempt  to 
do  away  with  dogma  is  the  most  consistent  which 
has  been,  or  is  being,  made;  and  the  results  of  the 
undogmatic  hypothesis  are  best  seen  in  their  great 
teachers.  Moreover,  the  union  of  a  minimum  of 
dogma  with  a  maximum  of  intellectual  culture  and 
philanthropic  activity  is  illustrated  by  the  life  they 
advocate.  Any  fair-minded  observer,  whether  he 
agree  with  them  or  not,  must  regard  them  as  the 
best  examples  of  the  application  of  certain  princi- 
ples, which  for  them  are  an  avowed  creed,  and  for 


The  Unity  of  the  Church  171 

many  others  an  unavowed,  though  influential,  ideal. 
The  reasons  for  adopting  it  are  patent  to  all  of  us ; 
but  if  we  study  its  character  and  history  carefully, 
we  can  scarcely  fail  to  see  that,  while  much  is  said 
of  everything  in  general,  the  only  practical  result 
is  the  apotheosis  of  the  nothing  in  particular.  Uni- 
tarianism  frankly  abandons  definite  Gospel  Chris- 
tianity; and  we  ought  to  see  clearly  that  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  it  is  based  inevitably  lead  to  that 
abandonment. 

2.  There  is  also  the  American  Protestant  scheme 
of  unity,  a  definite  grappling  with  the  problem 
closest  at  hand  which  makes  strong  appeal  to  all  the 
good  principle  we  possess.  There  is  no  mistaking 
that  the  time  is  ripe  for  action  along  this  line,  and 
no  doubt  of  our  duty  to  take  advantage  of  the  op- 
portunity. Now  is  the  time  when  something  can  be 
done;  and  therefore  now  is  the  time  when  something 
must  be  done.  And  in  going  about  it,  though  we 
may  avoid  the  extreme  of  consistency  in  seeking  to 
do  away  with  dogma,  we  are  disposed  to  reduce  what 
we  call  "  our  common  Christianity "  to  its  lowest 
terms,  to  seek  a  religion  of  minimums,  which,  when 
examined,  may  be  seen  to  have  little  solidity,  and  in 
its  aim  at  breadth  to  have  attained  nothing  but  flat- 
ness. (The  narrowness  of  the  vertical  is  bad;  but 
the  narrowness  of  the  horizontal  is  worse.)  There 
are  more  ways  than  one  of  trying  to  make  something 
out  of  nothing;  and  the  process  often  involves  the 
destruction  of  the  something  first. 

In  thinking  of  practical  problems,  we  are  some- 
times disposed  to  identify  American  Protestantism 


171  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

with  Christianity.  If  this  were  absolutely  true,  or 
even  relatively  true  from  the  practical  standpoint, 
the  key  to  solution  of  the  problem  would  probably  lie 
with  Presbyterians  or  Methodists.  American  Pres- 
byterianism  has  a  splendid  record  for  religious  depth 
and  spiritual  activity,  and  has  always  displayed  a 
thorough  Americanism.  In  its  modified  form,  now 
everywhere  prevalent,  it  is  as  fine  an  example  as  can 
be  found  of  the  development  of  Puritanism.  It  has 
both  intellectual  and  moral  fibre  for  ..the  building  up 
of  the  strongest  sort  of  American  Protestant  char- 
acter. Similarly,  Methodism  with  its  numerical  su- 
periority, its  unique  work  in  great  sections  of  the 
country,  its  approximately  undogmatic  teaching,  es- 
pecially when  taken  in  connection  with  the  work  of 
the  Baptists,  with  which  it  has  much  in  common, 
would  give  an  obviously  effective  basis  for  American 
Protestant  Union.  Methodism  with  its  numbers  in- 
fused with  Presbyterian  intelligence  and  spirit  would 
form  a  capital  amalgam  for  American  work. 

But  American  Protestantism  is  not  Christendom, 
and  no  striking  an  average  for  the  purpose  of  bring- 
ing together  American  Protestants  would  serve  an 
equal  purpose  for  Christendom.  Not  that  this  would 
not  be  good  in  itself,  since  any  reduction  in  the  number 
of  divisions  is  so  much  gain;  but  movement  in  one 
flank  of  the  Christian  host  must  not  be  mistaken  for 
movement  in  the  whole ;  and  movement  for  unity  can- 
not effect  so  much,  if  confined  to  the  left  wing,  as 
it  would  if  exerted  from  the  centre.  It  would  be  a 
fatal  tactical  mistake  for  any  Church  to  abandon 
what  gave  right  to  claim  place  in  the  Christian  cen- 


The  Unity  of  the  Church  173 

tre  for  the  sake  of  closer  identification  with  the  in- 
terests of  those  on  one  of  the  sides.  We  cannot  deal 
with  any  great  question  without  sense  of  proportion ; 
and  no  consideration  of  Christian  unity  has  propor- 
tion if  it  ignore  any  of  the  factors  in  the  problem, 
or  refuse  to  study  the  essential  nature  of  the  prob- 
lem itself.  No  part  must  so  engross  attention  as  to 
divert  interest  from  the  whole;  nor' must  temporary 
considerations,  prominent  at  one  time,  obscure  those 
which  are  permanent  for  all  time.  Our  special  in- 
terest in  the  welfare  of  American  Protestantism  must 
not  blind  us  to  the  welfare  of  Christendom  as  a 
whole. 

But  more  fundamental  than  any  disproportion  in 
our  interest  in  parts  of  the  problem  is  an  erroneous 
assumption  we  make  in  many  attempts  to  approach 
it.  We  start  with  the  idea  that  we  have  various 
churches  which  we  wish  to  bring  closer  together.  We 
have  made  them;  and  we  wish  to  make  the  common 
platform  on  which  they  can  all  unite.  The  unity, 
like  the  churches,  must  be  made  and  managed  by  our- 
selves. There  is  truth  in  this  as  a  description  of  the 
actual  situation;  and,  so  far  as  it  is  true,  it  meas- 
ures a  radical  and  dangerous  departure  from  Chris- 
tian principle.  We  have  all  of  us  made  churches, 
and  we  should  all  of  us  like  to  make  unities.  And 
when  we  have  done  that,  or  do  it,  we  are  abandon- 
ing the  New  Testament  way  of  viewing  things  and 
the  primitive  way  of  dealing  with  them.  There  is 
only  one  Church;  and  that  is  our  Lord's:  and  only 
one  unity,  and  that  is  His  too.  Our  churches  are 
not  Churches  in  the  same  sense  as  His;  nor  would 


174          Principles  of  Anglicanism 

our  unities  be  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  maintained  in 
the  bond  of  peace.  As  matter  of  fact,  our  churches, 
in  so  far  as  they  have  been  devised  merely  by  our- 
selves, have  amounted  to  very  little  in  comparison 
with  the  Gospel  standard;  and  as  for  our  unities, 
they  have  amounted  to  just  nothing  at  all.  Just 
so  far  as  church-activity  has  been  reduced  to  a 
purely  human  plane,  so  that  what  is  a  Kingdom-not- 
of-this-world  has  been  treated  as  a  series  of  modern- 
republics-very-much-of-this-world,  modern  Christian 
history  is  scrawled  all  over  with  the  unmistakable 
mark  Failure!  We  must  revert  to  the  Scriptural 
theories  of  the  Church  and  Unity  before  we  can  hope 
to  be  in  the  way  of  working  effectively.  It  is  a  com- 
mon fault  of  Christians  of  all  names  that  they  have, 
in  various  ways,  thought  of  the  Church  in  such  a 
way  as  to  leave  our  Lord  out  of  account.  There 
is  an  immense  amount  of  virtual  Unitarianism  among 
those  who  profess  to  accept  Christ  as  Divine,  and 
to  hold  to  the  New  Testament  conception  of  the 
Church.  This  is  true  whenever  we  think  of  Him 
merely  as  an  august  figure  in  the  past  rather  than 
as  a  vital  force  in  the  present ;  and  whenever,  though 
we  talk  of  His  present  activity,  we  fail  to  take  Him 
into  account  in  practical  affairs.  We  can  only  make 
definite  progress  toward  a  position  from  which  to 
work  for  unity  if,  all  together,  we  try  to  learn 
afresh  the  forgotten  lesson  of  the  mystical  Church 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  of  the  unity  in  it  for 
those  who  choose  to  submit  to  our  Lord  Him- 
self, working  in  His  own  Church  in  His  own 
way. 


The  Unity  of  the  Church          175 


In  marked  contrast  with  our  common  conceptions 
are  those  of  St.  Paul;  and  the  conceptions  of  St. 
Paul  correspond  exactly  to  those  given  by  our  Lord. 
In  St.  Paul  there  is  no  hint  that  church-unity  means 
a  confederation  of  churches  composed  of  special  fol- 
lowers of  a  number  of  eminent  Christians.  It  is  true 
that  such  an  idea  obtrudes  from  the  outside  for  a 
moment  as  a  cause  of  division  among  the  Corinthi- 
ans ;  but  St.  Paul  impatiently  sets  it  aside.  He  makes 
it  clear  that  no  churches  with  human  founders  are 
to  be  confused  with  the  one  Church  of  Christ.  Nor 
was  unity  to  be  effected  by  colourless  and  character- 
less combination  on  a  basis  of  a  superstitious  dread 
of  the  definite.  Like  St.  John,  he  only  conceives  of 
definite  union  on  a  basis  of  definite  truth. 

His  great  classical  statement  of  the  principles  of 
unity  is  that  passage  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians  from  which  the  text  was  taken.  "  There  is  one 
Body  and  one  Spirit,  even  as  ye  are  catted  m  one 
hope  of  your  calling;  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  bap- 
tism,  one  God  and  Father  of  us  all,  Who  is  above  all 
and  through  all  and  in  you  all.  But  unto  every  one 
of  us  is  given  grace  according  to  the  measure  of 
the  gift  of  Christ.  .  .  .  He  hath  given  some, 
apostles;  and  some,  prophets;  and  some,  evangelists; 
and  some,  pastors  and  teachers;  for  the  perfecting 
of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the 
edifying  of  the  Body  of  Christ:  tul  we  all  come  in 
the  unity  of  the  -faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the 


176          Principles  of  Anglicanism 

•fulness  of  Christ:  that  henceforth  we  be  no  more  chil- 
dren, tossed  to  and  fro  and  carried  about  with  every 
wind  of  doctrine,  by  the  sleight  of  men  and  cunning 
craftiness  whereby  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive;  but 
speaking  the  truth  in  love,  may  grow  up  into  Him 
in  alt  things,  which  is  the  Head  even  Christ,  from 
Whom  the  whole  Body,  fitly  joined  together  and  com- 
pacted by  that  which  every  joint  supplieth,  accord- 
ing to  the  effectual  working  m  the  measure  of  every 
part,  maketh  increase  of  the  Body  unto  the  edifying 
of  itself  in  love." 

It  is  only  possible  to  enumerate  the  main  points, 
each  one  of  which  might  be  subject  for  a  treatise. 
First,  the  Church  is  the  embodiment  of  the  character 
of  God  Himself,  "  the  fulness — complete  expression 
— of  Him  that  filleth  all  things."  Second,  it  is  the 
mystical  instrument  of  Christ's  activity,  "  Body " 
connected  with  Him  ascended  as  "  Head."  Third, 
it  derives  all  life  and  activity  from  Him  as  Source. 
"  When  He  ascended  up  on  high,  He  led  captivity 
captive  and  gave  gifts  unto  men."  Fourth,  though 
there  are  many  members,  they  are  not  independent, 
but  are  united  with  each  other  through  Him.  Fifth, 
this  Body  is  one,  and  its  oneness  comes  from  Him. 
"  From  Whom,  the  whole  Body  fitly  joined  together 
and  compacted  by  that  which  every  joint  supplieth, 
according  to  the  effectual  working  in  the  measure 
of  every  part,  maketh  increase  of  the  Body  unto  the 
edifying  of  itself  in  love." 

The  unity  of  the  mystical  Church,  like  every  other 
good  and  perfect  gift,  is  something  that  cometh  from 
above.  Our  fundamental  mistake  is  that  we  are  for- 


The  Unity  of  the  Church  177 

ever  trying  to  devise  it  from  below.  We  would  some- 
times like,  by  a  comparison  of  our  respective  notions, 
to  fabricate  some  sort  of  universally-to-be-accepted 
Christ.  We  first ;  then  our  notions ;  then  Christ.  The 
New  Testament  order  is  different.  One  Lord,  one 
faith,  one  baptism.  The  true  theory  of  unity  con- 
sists in  working  out  the  meaning  of  that.  We  must 
first  agree  on  the  one  Lord,  that  is,  that  our  Lord 
shall  really  be  given  first  place.  We  are  farther  from 
that  than  we  think.  If  we  could  but  do  that,  we 
should  be  making  progress.  Then,  the  one  Lord  must 
be  apprehended  by  one  faith,  not  only  one  interpre- 
tation of  the  meaning  of  His  Person  and  Life,  the 
one  faith  of  the  Scriptures  and  Creeds,  the  external 
faith  of  one  opinion  about  Christ,  but  also  the  inner, 
individual,  moral  faith  of  one  attitude  toward  Christ. 
"  One  faith  "  means  not  so  much  unanimity  in  doc- 
trine as  universal  self-surrender.  And  when  there 
be  universal  self-surrender,  there  can  be  no  hesitancy 
about  reception  of  the  universal  consecration  implied 
in  "  one  baptism." 

The  "  one  baptism  "  stands  for  everything  in  the 
one  Church.  It  is  the  anointing  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
which  makes  the  Church,  and  this  is  first  given  to 
every  member  in  Baptism.  Baptism  makes  the 
Church,  and  includes  or  typifies  every  form  of  spir- 
itual infusion  which  the  Church  in  any  part  of  its 
life  receives.  Any  insistence  we  lay  upon  the  ne- 
cessity of  Church,  or  Sacraments,  or  Ministry,  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  these  are  part  of  the  connotation  of 
the  "  one  Baptism."  To  paraphrase  St.  Paul's  enu- 
meration, unity  comes  from  accepting  the  "  one 


178          Principles  of  Anglicanism 

Lord  "  by  one  complete  surrender  of  self  to  Him. 
This  is  the  "  one  faith."  The  result  and  reward  of 
this  is  spiritual  anointing,  "  one  baptism."  This 
constitutes,  in  various  forms,  the  essence  of  the  life 
of  that  one  Church  composed  of  those  who  in  bap- 
tism have  received  the  Spirit.  All  theories  of  Chris- 
tology  and  Ecclesiology,  and  all  effective  plans  for 
practical  work,  are  comprised  in  that  classic  state- 
ment of  the  order  for  thoughts  of  unity.  And  from 
these  follow  unities  greater  still.  We  might  have  ex- 
pected the  unity  of  God  to  stand  first.  But,  accord- 
ing to  St.  Paul's  order,  we  only  come  to  apprehend 
the  "  one  God  and  Father  of  us  all "  after  our  unity 
with  the  "  one  Lord  "  has  been  consummated  in  the 
"  one  baptism." 

The  spiritual  unity  of  members  of  the  one  spiritual 
Body  is  not  a  mechanical  unity.  The  various  mem- 
bers perform  their  respective  functions  according  to 
a  law  of  variety,  which  is  of  Divine  appointment; 
but  they  are  connected  with  each  other  by  virtue  of 
union  with  the  Head.  Unity  comes  not  by  active 
process,  but  by  passive.  Complete  surrender  to 
Christ  brings  about  union  with  those  who  have  made 
the  same  surrender.  We  are  working  along  the  best 
line  for  unity  when  we  spread  the  evangelical  spirit 
of  complete  surrender  to  the  Person  of  Christ.  Men 
who  have  given  themselves  to  Him  will  accept  His 
Church  and  everything  in  it  for  His  sake.  We  may 
help  each  other  to  make  the  great  surrender,  to  pos- 
sess the  "  one  faith,"  to  accept  the  "  one  baptism  " ; 
but  we  must  wait  for  the  unity  as  a  gift  from  Him, 
sent  to  His  Church  as  the  possibilities  of  the  one 


The  Unity  of  the  Church  179 

baptism  are  more  and  more  realised.  St.  Paul  would 
seem  to  say  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  immediate 
unity  of  members — a  unity  effected  by  their  uniting 
themselves — only  power  of  closer  union  with  the 
Head,  the  one  medium  of  unity,  through  whom  they 
are  brought  closer  to  each  other. 

This  reflects  the  language  of  our  Lord  Himself 
when  He  made  His  great  High-Priestly  prayer  for 
the  unity  of  His  Church.  "  /  have  manifested  Thy 
Name  unto  the  men  which  Thou  gavest  Me  out  of 
the  world;  Thine  they  were,  and  Thou  gavest  them 
Me,  and  they  have  kept  Thy  Word.  .  .  .  /  have 
given  them  the  words  which  Thou  gavest  Me;  and 
they  have  received  them,  and  have  known  surely  that 
I  came  from  Thee,  and  they  have  believed  that  Thou 
hast  sent  Me.'9  There  is  explanation  of  the  meaning 
of  "  one  faith."  "  Sanctify  them  through  Thy  truth: 
Thy  word  is  truth.  As  Thou  hast  sent  Me  into 
the  world,  even  so  have  I  sent  them  into  the  world. 
And  for  their  sakes  I  sanctify  Myself,  that  they  also 
might  be  sanctified  through  the  truth.  Neither  pray 
I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which  shall  be- 
lieve on  Me  through  their  word;  that  they  all  may  be 
one;  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee,  that 
they  may  be  one  in  Us:  that  the  world  may  believe 
that  Thou  hast  sent  Me.  And  the  glory  which  Thou 
gavest  Me  I  have  given  them  (There  is  a  wonderful 
assertion  of  the  Divine  character  of  the  Church.), 
that  they  all  may  be  one,  even  as  We  are  one:  I  in 
them,  and  Thou  in  Me,  that  they  may  be  made  per- 
fect into  one;  that  the  world  may  know  that  Thou 
hast  sent  Me,  and  hast  loved  them  as  Thou  hast 


180  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

loved  Me"  Unity  of  the  Church  is  the  end  of  His 
coming  into  the  world,  the  special  means  of  convert- 
ing the  world.  Its  source  is  Divine,  and  its  pattern 
Divine.  It  is  effected  not  by  any  action  of  the  be- 
lievers moving  toward  each  other,  but  as  consequence 
of  Divine  indwelling.  /  in  them,  and  Thou  m  Me; 
the  unity  of  the  Godhead  is  mediated  to  the  Church 
through  Christ,  the  Church's  Head.  That  they  may 
be  made  perfect  Into  one.  It  is  a  gradual  process; 
but  a  process  to  which  men  submit,  not  one  which 
they  contrive.  And  in  the  Church  there  can  be  re- 
alisation of  all  that  goes  to  make  up  the  life  and 
character  of  God— what  St.  Paul  calls  "fulness." 
"  /  have  declared  unto  them  Thy  Name,  and  will  de- 
clare it:  that  the  love  wherewith  Thou  hast  loved  Me 
may  be  in  them,  and  I  in  them.  When  Jesus  had 
spoken  these  words,  He  went  forth  with  His  disciples 
over  the  brook  Cedron,  where  there  was  a  garden, 
into  which  He  entered  with  His  disciples.  And  Judas 
also  which  betrayed  Him  knew  the  place"  Our  Lord's 
last  full  and  free  words  spoken  in  the  presence  of 
the  Apostles  were  a  prayer  to  the  Father  that  His 
Church  in  all  ages  to  come  should  be  brought  into 
one  through  apprehension  of  Divine  truth,  and 
should  be  filled  with  Divine  love.  Does  this  seem 
dreamy,  unpractical,  remote  from  anything  useful  or 
susceptible  of  direct  application?  It  is  only  repeti- 
tion of  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles  and  of  their 
Lord,  repetition  of  the  only  things  which  come  from 
sources  to  be  regarded  as  having  authority.  And  the 
history  of  the  Church  shows  that  men  have  only  made 
practical  advance  in  the  work  of  the  Church  when 


The  Unity  of  the  Church  181 

they  have  reverted  to  these  mystical,  Divine,  first 
principles  and  have  appreciated  the  truth — to  quote 
the  motto  of  the  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew — that 
"  there  is  nothing  more  practical  than  spirituality." 

But  "  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do?  "  Sev- 
eral things,  which  are  plainly  in  accordance  with  the 
Divine  plan  and  order  for  unity. 

First,  we  can  study  and  teach  the  primitive  Gospel 
of  the  Living  Christ.  This  is  very  little  studied  and 
taught  at  present.  The  common  presentation  of  our 
Lord,  excellent  as  it  is  as  far  as  it  goes,  falls  lam- 
entably short  of  the  presentation  given  by  the 
Apostles.  We  can  enter  upon  an  educational  cam- 
paign, the  avowed  object  of  which  is  to  propagate 
the  Gospel  of  the  Ascension  and  Pentecost.  That  is, 
that  He  is  in  our  midst  now,  moving  in  the  midst 
of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks,  holding  the  seven 
stars  in  His  right  hand;  that  He  is  first  factor  in 
every  practical  problem. 

Second,  we  can  draw  nearer  to  our  fellow-Chris- 
tians through  intercessory  prayer.  By  bringing  them 
with  ourselves  into  our  communions  with  our  Lord, 
we  shall  be  getting  nearer  to  them  through  Him. 
We  consistently  use  general  prayers  for  unity;  but 
we  may  make  little  specific,  detailed  intercession.  We 
are  trying  sympathetically  to  learn  more  of  Chris- 
tians of  other  Communions  than  our  own.  The  prac- 
tical consequence  should  be  earnest  and  intelligent 
prayer.  Any  one  of  us  would  have  made  a  definite 
step  toward  the  temper  of  Christian  unity  if,  in 
moments  of  drawing  closest  to  God,  he  were  to  pray 
not  merely  for  members  of  his  own  Church  in  all 


182  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

parts  of  the  world,  but  also  as  earnestly  and  intently 
as  he  knew  how  for  the  Pope,  the  Greek  Patriarchs, 
the  Russian  missionaries,  the  Scottish  Presbyterians, 
the  American  Baptists,  the  Salvation  Army,  or  for 
any  other  combination  of  representative  Christians, 
which  would  suggest  the  extent  and  the  complexity 
of  the  Christian  problem.  There  are  many  unde- 
veloped possibilities  along  this  line,  and  the  Mis- 
sionary Conference  in  Edinburgh  has  set  a  stimu- 
lating example. 

Third,  we  can  recognise  that  no  one  form  of  Chris- 
tianity represents  fully  and  perfectly  the  faith  and 
practice  of  the  New  Testament  Church;  but  that 
there  is  a  "  coming  Catholicity,"  the  common  prop- 
erty of  us  all,  to  which  we  all  have  important  con- 
tributions to  make.  Our  aim  is  not  to  force  one 
form  of  existing  Christianity  on  others,  or  to  devise 
of  ourselves  some  new  form  for  that  purpose;  but, 
knowing  that  the  Divine  unity  is  something  toward 
which  we  must  grow,  we  can  strive  to  train  our  chil- 
dren for  that  more  perfect  thing  which  is  coming  in 
the  future.  The  New  Testament  gives  a  standard,  a 
goal,  the  time  for  reaching  which  it  is  not  in  our 
power  to  determine;  but  we  can  help  each  other  to 
face  the  goal,  and  cultivate  a  unity  in  ambition  and 
effort,  though  we  be  following  different  lines  of 
approach. 

Too  little  heed  is  paid  to  the  New  Testament 
standard,  our  Lord's  standard;  and  we  can  do  much 
by  claiming  for  it  its  rightful  place,  by  trying  to 
secure  for  St.  Paul  a  new  hearing  for  the  doctrine 
of  "  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism."  Let  us  stop 


The  Unity  of  the  Church  183 

trying  to  unite  ourselves  for  Christ's  benefit,  in  the 
sense  that  we  are  trying  to  make  over  Him  and  His 
Church  for  our  own  benefit.  Let  us  seek  more 
earnestly  to  be  united  through  Him  as  the  only 
Source  and  the  only  Bond  of  Unity.  That  is  the 
first  great  postulate  of  the  unity-problem,  and  the 
first  factor  for  all  practical  work.  This  we  must 
recognise  before  we  can  hope  for  progress. 

Nor  need  we  be  hopeless  that  God  will  soon  do 
great  things  in  preparing  the  factions  and  fractions 
of  Christendom  to  receive  the  gift  of  unity.  It  is 
no  impossible  dream  that  the  great  Roman  Com- 
munion with  its  splendid  record  of  consistent  witness 
to  the  supernatural,  which  is  the  secret  of  its 
strength,  and  its  allegiance  to  the  ideal  of  a  Divinely- 
inspired  Church,  should,  as  many  of  its  members  are 
doing,  look  more  and  more  behind  the  Church  to  the 
Church's  Lord  and  detect  the  signs  of  His  Spirit  in 
many  of  those  from  whom  it  now  holds  aloof;  that 
the  Greeks,  with  their  unflinching  loyalty  to  the  ideal 
of  one  faith,  should  feel  more  and  more  that  faith 
has  a  Personal  Source  and  Personal  Goal;  that  Prot- 
estantism, with  its  splendid  aim  of  free  personal 
union  with  God  in  conscious  sonship,  should  feel  more 
and  more  the  workings  of  His  free  Spirit  in  the 
Church,  and  should  cease  denunciation  of  other 
Christians'  sins  long  enough  for  a  little  penitential 
recognition  of  its  own ;  that  even  Protestant  Episco- 
palianism  should  be  roused  from  its  smug  littleness 
to  some  apprehension  of  the  Catholicity  taught  by 
St.  Paul  and  St.  John.  We  need  not  think  of  these 
things  as  impossible  if  we  have  living  faith 


184  Principles  of  Anglicanism 

in  a  Living  Lord;  and  the  mere  thought  of 
these  things  helps  to  develop  a  temper  receptive 
of  unity.  We  are  very  much  "  like  children,  tossed 
to  and  fro,  and  carried  about  by  every  wind  of  doc- 
trine " ;  but  our  Lord,  who  at  first  gave  divers  gifts 
to  divers  men,  can  still  fit  us  to  make  some  contribu- 
tion to  His  work,  "  for  the  edifying  of  the  Body  of 
Christ:  till  we  all  come  into  the  unity  of  the  faith, 
and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  per- 
fect manhood,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the 
fulness  of  Christ." 


—MHgggSEi 

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